Jets trade for Davante Adams, star WR reunites with Aaron Rodgers: Sources

By Diana Russini, Jack Rosenblatt, Tashan Reed, Vic Tafur and Jack Seely

Just a week after the New York Jets changed head coaches, firing Robert Saleh five games into his fourth season, the team made a second major move, acquiring wide receiver Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday, according to league sources.

The Raiders will receive a conditional third-round pick that could be a second-round pick based on Adams' performance, according to the source. Specifically, the conditional third-rounder becomes a second-rounder if Adams makes first-team or second-team All-Pro, or if Adams is on the active roster for the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl, a league source said.

The Raiders are not paying Adams base salary, according to a team source. His remaining base salary is about $11.59 million per over the cap.

Most of the trade was agreed to before the Jets' game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday, and Adams flew to New Jersey that night, league sources said.

The move reunites Adams with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The two formed one of the most prolific quarterback-wide receiver duos of the last decade while playing for the Green Bay Packers. As a rookie in 2014, Adams caught Rodgers' 200th touchdown pass. In 2020, he also caught Rodgers' 400th touchdown pass. Over eight years with the Packers, they connected on 67 more touchdowns — and totaled 622 completions for 7,590 yards in 108 games.

It's a move that seems to have been in the works since the Jets acquired Rodgers from Green Bay in April 2023. When the quarterback arrived, he listed Adams as a player he wanted to add to the Jets, along with former Packers (such as Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, who they signed) and Odell Beckham Jr. It didn't pay off then, but as Adams' happiness in Las Vegas crumbled and he requested a trade in recent weeks, the Jets pounced. forward

“I'm better because of him,” Rodgers told ESPN in 2020. “As a person and as a quarterback.”

A six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, the 31-year-old Adams remains elite, as evidenced by his nine-catch, 110-yard outburst in the Raiders' Week 2 win over Baltimore. But his best years came when Rodgers was throwing him the ball. Behind the scenes, Rodgers was pushing the Jets to acquire Adams, and general manager Joe Douglas called the Raiders at multiple points — last year at the trade deadline, this offseason — to check in but Las Vegas wasn't interested in moving him.

After the deal, Jets owner Woody Johnson cited Adams' experience with Rodgers as motivation to complete the deal.

“We know they played together,” Johnson said. “I think anyone would be interested in seeing this gentleman. He has a proven skill, that's for sure.

Johnson said Adams “adds everything” to the Jets offense and that the receiver's relationship with Rodgers is “very important.”

Malik went on to explain his rationale for his team's sweeping overhaul in recent weeks and how he believes it will change the course of their 2024 season.

“Thinking overrated,” Johnson said of how quickly he thinks the Jets can turn their season around. “You have to look ahead. You have to look forward to the games we are going to play every week and try to win them. It's basic stuff.”

Johnson quoted a line from the movie “Talladega Nights” speaking to Will Ferrell's character Ricky Bobby.

“Remember that scene when he said 'You're not a thinker, you're a driver.' right? And many times it is, you just have to go with your instincts and what's the best thing to build a winning team but most importantly build a winning culture. I think based on what we saw yesterday, we're starting in a new and exciting direction.”

Adams was frustrated with the play of the Raiders' quarterback last season — starting with his helmet hitting the turf in Monday night's game and saying Jimmy Garoppolo was going to kill him in the Netflix documentary “Receivers.” Sources say the coaching staff was upset when Gardner Minshew went with Aidan O'Connell as the starter to start this season; Adams felt O'Connell, who ranked Minshew atop the depth chart in Week 6, was the better passer.

In July, Adams said there was a “fresh slate,” but what was there? He left the Raiders during training camp for the birth of his first son, and while the team thought it would only be for a few days, Adams was gone for 10 years. When he came back, he said he didn't want to play. In the second preseason game. Pierce said everyone healthy will play, but Adams didn't suit up due to soreness.

Pierce, it turns out, was surprised when Adams called a meeting with the coach on Sept. 30, according to league sources. Adams told Pierce he wanted to be traded to a better team. The Raiders told Adams they would grant his wish, because they didn't want players who didn't want to be there.

Pearce was asked last week where things went with Adams.

“I don't know,” Pierce said. “I think you'll have to ask Davante.”

When Las Vegas sent first- and second-round picks to the Packers in 2022, it was coming off a playoff berth and thought Adams had given the team a shot at a Super Bowl. The Raiders are 16-24 since then, and last October they fired the general manager (Dave Ziegler) and head coach (Josh McDaniels) who were there when Adams arrived. A big reason Adams wanted to play with the Raiders in the first place was to reunite with his quarterback Derek Carr at Fresno State. The two played 15 games together in 2022 and Adams saw a career-high 180 targets, led the league in receiving touchdowns (15) and finished with the second-most career receiving yards (1,516). But the Raiders released Carr, opting to go with Garoppolo to start 2023. Garoppolo, McDaniels' preferred quarterback, was benched last season and released in March.

Adams has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury — his last snap with the franchise coming in a Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers. The Raiders top three receivers going forward are Jacoby Meyers, Trey Tucker and DJ Turner.

Holding up any Adams trade was the Raiders' second-round pick (which they compromised) and the Raiders' insistence on paying Adams' remaining 2024 salary in full (which they didn't). The New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers also asked about the acquisition of the star receiver, while the Bills were monitoring the situation.

When Adams became officially available, the Jets expressed interest almost immediately, although there was some restraint due to the financial aspect of a trade.

On the field, Adams' fit is obvious and intuitive, but it would be a stretch to say he solves all of the Jets' problems, even if he forms one of the NFL's most talented wide receiver duos with Garrett Wilson.

In 2020 — the first of Rodgers' back-to-back MVP seasons — Adams told ESPN that Rodgers is “the best quarterback in the NFL, and I'm the best wide receiver in the NFL. And the way we laugh, I don't think anyone else is doing it like us.”

But Rodgers is no longer the NFL's best quarterback. He had his worst game as a Jet in Week 5 at London, and one of the worst games of his career, the first time he threw two interceptions in the first quarter and the sixth time in 235 games he threw three interceptions in a game. . He's still shown flashes of his signature arm talent and ability to move, but he's been hurt — he sprained a low ankle in Week 5 against the Vikings — and sometimes plays his age.

The Jets are crumbling under Jeff Ulbricht's first-time (interim) head coach. They have a tough stretch of schedule coming up; After Monday's home loss to the Bills, they travel to Pittsburgh in Week 7 and, after a trip to Foxboro, host a Thursday night home game against the Houston Texans on a short week.

Adams, Rodgers and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett had great success together in Green Bay in 2019-21, but that calculus also involved Packers coach Matt LaFleur calling plays, not Hackett — and Hackett, while on the staff, no longer calls Jett Ulbricht Hackett. removed his play-calling duties and replaced him with passing game coordinator Todd Downing, who was the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator in 2021–22. Downing's first game as offensive coordinator was Monday night against the Bills, and the offense looked better, but far from elite.

There is also the matter of Wilson. The Jets' young star got off to a slow start this season and was visibly frustrated as his chemistry with Rodgers failed to ignite in the first four games. How would the young receiver, not hiding his emotions or frustrations, feel about Rodgers' best friend joining the team and becoming his favorite target?

Of course, Adams joining the fray will make life easier for Wilson, especially since defenses will no longer be able to shift all of their coverage attention to one receiver. Wilson battled through four games to win the matchup against the opposing No. 1 corner. Teams can no longer double-team Wilson when Adams is on the other side, and Rodgers always says he'll throw it to whoever is open. But Wilson won't be the Jets' No. 1 receiver as long as Adams is around and Rodgers is the quarterback — and Wilson is eligible for a contract extension for the first time this coming offseason. It's a situation, and a relationship, worth watching.

At the end of the day, Adams makes the Jets' offense better. Wilson, Adams, Lazard and Mike Williams form a wide receiver quartet with significant potential. With a quality running back pairing between Brice Hall and rookie Braylon Allen and solid play from tight end Tyler Conklin, the Jets have the pieces for a high-powered offense.

Also, Rodgers is 16 touchdowns short of 500 for his career. Now Adams can catch that too.

Fantasy effect

The Adams trade is good news for Rodgers but bad news for Wilson. In Week 5, Wilson's outrageous 22 targets became the second-lowest yardage total (101) for any receiver with 20-plus targets in a game (since 2000). Wilson saw 10 more targets in Week 6 and Adams will now come in as Rodgers' top option.

His relationship with Lazard and Rodgers — especially in the red zone — won't go away either. That means Adams is the new No. 1 with Wilson and Lazard battling for the No. 2 spot — similar to Seattle's battle between Tyler Lockett and Jackson Smith-Nzigba.

WR3s with the arrival of Wilson and Lazard Adams, and Lazard now has a higher ceiling with touchdown upside. Adams is a mid-high WR2 with potential WR1 numbers. – Jack Seeley, Senior Fantasy Writer

(Top photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)