Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams finally reunited after a year of speculation, and will now try to save the season for the New York Jets. The troubled team from the Big Apple will send a conditional third-round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The agreement could become a second-round pick if the Jets reach the final of the American Conference with Adams on the team.
NFL Network was the first to report the trade and it was also confirmed to The Associated Press by two people familiar with the deal.
Why did Adams choose to go to the Jets?
Davante Adams is now back with Rodgers, the quarterback with whom he enjoyed eight successful seasons catching his passes for the Green Bay Packers.
The renowned receiver, considered one of the best in the NFL, parted ways with Rodgers in 2022 when he became a free agent and accepted the offer from the Raiders, who also offered him the opportunity to reunite with Derek Carr, the quarterback he played with at the university level at Fresno State.
The Raiders gave up a huge haul in 2022 to acquire Adams when they sent the Packers first and second-round picks in that year's draft and made Adams the highest-paid receiver at that time with a five-year, $140 million contract, with nearly $66 million guaranteed.
But Carr was cut in 2023 by the Raiders and Adams did not feel comfortable with Jimmy Garoppolo, and even less this year with Gardner Minshew, so he asked the Las Vegas team to let him go. His discomfort even appeared in the documentary series "Receiver" from Netflix.
The trade took place less than 12 hours after the Jets lost 23-20 to the Buffalo Bills and fell to a 2-4 record for the season.
Adams, 31, is looking to boost a Jets offense that has been inconsistent during the first part of the season. The three-time All-Pro joins Garrett Wilson to give Rodgers two top-tier wide receivers to throw to.
Did Adams' arrival strengthen Rodgers' power in the Jets?
The trade also caps off what have been the tumultuous last seven days for the Jets. Two days after losing to Minnesota in London, owner Woody Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was chosen to replace him as interim head coach.
It was cited as one of the reasons for Saleh's surprising and premature departure his bad relationship with Rodgers.
Ulbrich then demoted offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and replaced him with passing game coordinator Todd Downing on Wednesday.
Now Rodgers will be able to play with one of his favorite receivers of his career, to whom he threw 615 passes for 7,517 yards and 68 touchdowns, all in Green Bay.
The last two years of Adams’ contract, 2025 and 2026, are not guaranteed. The Jets will take on the remaining amount of his annual salary, $11.2 million, but next season the receiver’s salary will increase to $35.6 million.