It's no secret that Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams would love to reunite on the football field
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, right, and Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams. Credit: Jim McIsaac, AP
LAS VEGAS – Aaron Rodgers hasn’t completed a pass this season, but he connected with a receiver Saturday night.
Rodgers made the short trip from his Southern California home to Vegas for Sunday night’s Jets-Raiders’ game and hooked up with Davante Adams. Rodgers posted a picture of the two old friends together again on his Instagram page.
Adams was Rodgers’ favorite target in Green Bay, and he’s expected to be one of the Jets’ top targets this offseason. They inquired about him before last month’s trade deadline. That went nowhere.
It would have been a fun storyline had this been Adams’ return to the desert game. Instead, the Jets’ defense had to try to keep Adams from ruining their trip West.
“There’s a lot of great things he does,” cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “You can sit there and just go down the list, but he’s one of if not the best receiver in the league.”
Although the Raiders kept Adams, they might be more willing to deal him in the offseason when they can get a nice haul to help their rebuilding efforts. The Raiders are a team in transition with an interim coach in former Giant Antonio Pierce and could face an offseason of changes.
Many teams would be interested and the Jets would be considered the front-runner to acquire Adams. It’s no secret that he and Rodgers would love to play together again.
The two have remained close and surely have had conversations about reuniting. They were an almost unstoppable connection in Green Bay. Adams led the NFL with 18 touchdown catches in 2020 and had 1,553 receiving yards the next season.
Part of the reason that Adams left Green Bay for Las Vegas was to play with his college quarterback Derek Carr again. Adams was brilliant in 2022. He finished with 1,516 receiving yards and a league-high 14 receiving touchdowns. But Carr was benched late in the season and signed with the Saints in the spring.
Adams has expressed frustration about not playing with Carr anymore, losing and his lack of targets this season. Jimmy Garoppolo hasn’t clicked with Adams and has since been benched for rookie Aiden O’Connell. Adams is on pace for his least productive season in seven years.
He has just one 100-yard receiving game all season and hasn’t scored a touchdown in his last six. Adams has totaled just 103 receiving yards in the last three games combined. The Jets went into this game knowing that he could break out at any time, though.
“You just see the movement and the route running, and the separation -- he’s still scary in all of those ways,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “So I know our guys are excited to play against him because he is absolutely still one of the best wide receivers in this league.”
The Jets have one too in Garrett Wilson.
Many people, including Rodgers, have compared Wilson to a young Davante Adams. Just imagine if they were on the same team, with running back Breece Hall in the backfield, and Rodgers at quarterback.
People inside the Jets’ building have. Their fans absolutely have and likely are trying to follow Rodgers’ lead and manifest it by speaking into existence.
The Jets feel they’re a few pieces from being a Super Bowl contender. The main piece is Rodgers, who tore his left Achilles tendon four offensive snaps into the season.
Their Super Bowl dreams they had coming into the season are on hold as the Jets continue to work through their offensive issues with Zach Wilson as the quarterback.
Wilson’s hold on the starting job seems to be tenuous unless the offense gets going against the Raiders. The Jets came into this game having scored just three touchdowns in their last four games and none on Monday night against the Chargers.
The dream will live again when Rodgers returns and is fully healthy. It would feel a little more realistic if the Jets could add Adams to the receiver room.
The Jets have a number of ex-Packers on their roster – Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Billy Turner, Tim Boyle, Adrian Amos – and one calling the plays, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. They haven’t had much of an impact. Adams is a difference maker who would help this finally become formidable and force defenses to pick their poison.
“He’s an elite talent, obviously,” Robert Saleh said this week. “Probably going to be in the Hall of Fame one day and he’s got a tremendous mindset (from) everything I’ve heard about him, just obviously being connected to all those guys in Green Bay and with Coach (Matt) LaFleur and all that.
“He’s elite in every aspect of football, and an elite football player aside from just his athleticism. He’s somebody we obviously have to pay attention to.”
Pay attention to Sunday night, and somebody the Jets will have to pay a lot for this offseason to get him in their building.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
