Green Bay Packers: Will Davante Adams be at Mandatory Mini-Camp?

June 8th marks the beginning of the Green Bay Packers’ mandatory three-day mini-camp. So, of course, all eyes are going to be on Aaron Rodgers and whether or not he shows up–understandably so. As we all know, Rodgers and the Packers are in a standoff at the moment, and Rodgers has not been a part of voluntary OTAs.

However, there is another star player on this Green Bay Packers team who has not been at Phase 3 of OTAs either, and that would be Davante Adams. So as Adams enters the final year of his deal, it begs the question, will he be at mini-camp, or could his absence signify the start of a holdout?

For starters, I’ll begin by saying that I do expect him to be there. While Adams hasn’t been at the third phase of OTAs, as wide receivers coach Jason Vrable told reporters on Thursday, Adams — along with all of the other receivers — had been in attendance for all of the virtual meetings up until May 24th. So it’s not as if he’s gone rogue–these workouts are voluntary after all, and it’s only early June. But for someone who is considered by many as the best wide receiver in the NFL, this is about securing that next contract.

If — and I stress the word “if” — Adams doesn’t attend mini-camp, many will say that he’s siding with his quarterback and sticking it to the Packers. And who knows, perhaps that could be some of it — I’m not Davante Adams — but more so, if that does happen, I”ll venture to say that his absence is about being underpaid and the fact that he’s in the final year of his contract.

By average annual value, the $14.5 million that Adams has earned per year ranks as the 18th most in the football among wide receivers, according to Spotrac. As I said, he’s underpaid. Adams is coming off an excellent 2020 season, leading the league in touchdowns and yards per game, along with recording 1,374 receiving yards and a catch rate of 77 percent.

As far as what a new contract would look like, the salary cap guru of Packers’ Twitter, Ken Ingalls, suggested that Adams should earn at least $25 million per year on his next deal. This would make him the second-highest paid receiver, behind only DeAndre Hopkins.

From a pure business standpoint, at 28 years old and entering the final year of his contract, it would be wise for Adams to avoid injury until he does receive that well-deserved pay raise. Some fans may not like that approach, but this is a business, and the players have to do what’s best for them.

With that said, if Adams and the Green Bay Packers are already working on an extension, then this is all really a moot point. And the two sides absolutely could be. In January of 2020, when discussing a possible extension for Kenny Clark, Brian Gutekunst told reporters that these high-priced extensions take time, and it wasn’t until August that it was completed. David Bakhtiari’s wasn’t signed until November.

In May, Adams appeared on The Herd and was asked if Rodgers leaving would have an impact on his future, to which Adams replied with “potentially.” But if a holdout were to ensue, in a weird way, that would show us that Adams is fine being in Green Bay despite the uncertainty around Rodgers. In this scenario, Adams is looking for a long-term deal with the Packers, which of course, would take away his ability to enter free agency if that deal were completed, and remove the possibility of him reuniting with Rodgers if he were to end up elsewhere, whether that be in 2021, 2022, or even 2023.

I also have to imagine that Rodgers is closely watching how all of this unfolds, mentioning numerous times in his interview with Kenny Mayne on SportsCenter that the organization is about the “people.” Despite what appears to be philosophical differences between the Packers and Rodgers, throughout the entirety of this saga, Green Bay has been adamant about not trading him and stating that they want to work things out. Well, not bringing back Adams, who is the team’s top receiver and a close friend of QB1, isn’t exactly the best way to get back in Rodgers’ good graces–which if you’re reading the tea leaves and believe that the Packers won’t trade Rodgers, is a sign that Adams will receive an extension at some point.

Of course, all of this is just speculation on my part, and there is no real evidence to suggest that Adams will be absent this coming Tuesday. As I mentioned earlier, my expectations are that Adams does show up, and at some point in 2021, an extension is completed. But as we’ve seen this offseason with the Green Bay Packers, anything can happen, which is why, at a minimum, I thought this was a discussion worth having.