Packers: Could Davante Adams be playing himself out of Green Bay?

Davante Adams’ ascension to becoming the best wide receiver in the NFL is fully complete. And that’s both good and bad for the Green Bay Packers.

The good is obviously the numbers and production Adams has put up. He recorded 111 receptions for 1386 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2018 before racking up another 115 catches for 1374 yards and a whopping 18 touchdowns last year. However, those look like child play compared to his start this year where he could conceivably top 145 receptions and 2000 receiving yards (granted, it’s one extra game).

Aaron Rodgers clearly looks to Adams no matter the situation and the two never have any issue connecting. Without any other legitimate wide receivers on the roster, Adams does all the heavy lifting for the group and is counted on time and time again. He’s a key cog in the Packers’ offensive engine.

Green Bay Packers’ stud wide receiver Davante Adams has been tearing up the NFL once again and could be too pricey for the team to retain.

The bad news is that his elite play may have priced him out of Green Bay as soon as next year.

Adams is a free agent in 2022 and the two sides weren’t able to agree to a contract extension in the offseason. And at 28-years-old, Adams is rightfully looking for a massive payday.

Unfortunately, Green Bay already has a huge salary cap issue looming next year and that doesn’t account for any extra money an extension would add. In order to go all-in this season, they kicked about $29 million of cap charges into 2022 via contract restructures and voided years.

According to Packers’ salary cap guru Ken Ingalls, in order for the Packers to just get cap space in 2022, they must extend Jaire Alexander and Preston Smith, restructure the contracts of Kenny Clark and Aaron Jones, cut Za’Darius Smith and Randall Cobb, and trade Aaron Rodgers. Oufta.

But wait! There’s more! They must also complete several of the following: cut Marcedes Lewis, Dean Lowry or Mason Crosby and restructure the contracts of David Bakhtiari, Adrian Amos or Billy Turner.

When it’s all said and done, that would give them anywhere between $3 to 27 million in cap space. The Packers could then re-sign Adams with that money they just created with whatever moves they chose to make.

The other downside is that they’ll still have a plethora of their own free agents to retain including (but not limited to) Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chandon Sullivan, Robert Tonyan, Corey Bojorquez and De’Vondre Campbell.

In other words, enjoy this Adams’ season because it’s probably his last in a green and gold uniform.