Packers & Davante Adams in Early Stages of Extension Talks

With all of the attention on Aaron Rodgers this offseason, it can be easy to forget that wide receiver Davante Adams is in the final year of his current deal. After the 2020 season ended, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that Adams and the Green Bay Packers would come to an agreement on an extension at some point.

For starters, it would keep one of the game’s top receivers in Green Bay beyond the 2020 season, and it would also help lower Adams’ massive $16.7 million cap hit this year. However, as we all know, that obviously hasn’t happened yet, and truthfully, we haven’t heard much about it.

In the past, when discussing Kenny Clark’s possible extension, GM Brian Gutekunst told us that deals of that magnitude often take some time—and I’m sure the same applies to Adams as well.

So when could a possible extension take place? I don’t believe anyone outside of 1265 Lombardi Avenue knows the answer to that question. But according to Adams in a recent interview with Pauline Dedaj of Fox News, he did mention that the two parties were in the “beginning stage” of negotiations and once again reiterated that Rodgers’ future with the team could play a role:

"“That’ll play into it, but there’s been talks, just really just talks, but we haven’t really done anything or talked about anything that’s worth mentioning,” he said. “It’s kind of just been the beginning stage of talking, and we’ll figure out what happens. Hopefully, something gets figured out, but I’m just there to play ball either way. That stuff will take care of itself eventually.”"

For a Green Bay Packers team that is once again going to tight up against the salary cap in 2022, there is going to need to be some more financial gymnastics that take place in order to fit another massive contract on the books. A potential reprieve from the salary cap could come in 2023, when it is expected to make a big jump as the NFL’s new TV deal kicks in.

According to Spotrac’s calculations, they are projecting that Adams’ new deal will be for four years and comes with an average annual value just shy of $25 million—making him the second-highest paid receiver in football, a far cry from where he currently ranks as the 18th.

Couple that heft deal with Green Bay being $34.57 million over the projected 2022 salary cap, according to Over the Cap, along with the fact that the Packers’ eight largest cap hits account for $160 million of their cap dollars next season, and like I said, there will have to be some serious cap maneuvering on the parts of Gutey and Russ Ball.

Now, with that said, there are, of course, moves that can be made to free up cap space. And when it comes to doing so for Davante Adams, Green Bay absolutely should.

Adams has established himself as what many would consider the best receiver in football and is coming off a season where he posted 1,374 yards and a league-high 18 touchdowns while being named a first-team All-Pro.

Regardless of who is under center in the coming years, you want Adams as a target. We’ve seen for several years now what he and Rodgers can do together. Not to mention that having someone like Adams for Jordan Love to rely on in the passing game would really help the young quarterback out.

Discussions may be in the early stages, but as Adams told reporters during mini-camp, these negotiations won’t stop him from attending training camp—which is good news for the Packers and is one less thing they’ll have to worry about over the next five weeks. As Adams said, “I’ll be here.”

Another factor in all of this is how the Rodgers’ saga affects these talks. Not only from Adams’ perspective, and whether or not he would want to test free agency, but as Ian Rapoport mentioned on Locked on Packers with Peter Bukowski, the unknown around Rodgers’ future could be holding things up:

"“I don’t get the sense that anyone is going to do anything until Rodgers gets settled. Why would you? For better or worse, he’s holding up all business. I don’t know that it even matters that much, if your Davante Adams, I would imagine at some point he’ll get an extension anyways, so the timing is sort of just about timing, but it’s hard to conduct any business not knowing how the Rodgers’ situation is going to unfold.“"

There are certainly a lot of moving parts here from what Adams wants, to the salary cap, to Aaron Rodgers, and I’m sure there’s plenty more. So we will just have to continue doing what we’ve done all offseason up to this point, and that is wait.

When it comes to an extension for Adams, It doesn’t sound like anything is going to be accomplished in the near future, but it does sound like some conversations have at least taken place.