Green Bay Packers star wide receiver Davante Adams is not expected to play under the franchise tag next season.
Green Bay placed said tag on Adams earlier in March with the expectation that he’d sign it and suit up for the team in 2022. On the eve of NFL free agency officially opening, that’s not in the cards. Reports indicate that Adams has no intention of playing under the tag — meaning a trade could be in the cards.
According to this note from NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Adams turned down a contract offer from Green Bay that would have paid him $23 million annually.
There’s a lot of factors that go into Adams turning down said offer. First off, it technically wouldn’t represent the richest contract for a wide receiver in NFL history. That goes to DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals, who is earning $27 million annually.
However, Hopkins’ deal is complicated in that the wide receiver’s previous deal had two more years added to it. This has created a pretty interesting market in free agency. As for what Adams would earn under the franchise tag in 2022, it’d come in at $18.42 million — much lower than what the Packers had offered him.
Related: Davante Adams and the NFL franchise tag situation
How is the Davante Adams’ situation going to play out?
It seems as if Adams and the Packers are far apart in negotiations. In fact, there’s been very little movement on that front.
There’s a chance that the five-time Pro Bowler simply demands to be dealt to another team. In this scenario, a sign-and-trade would be the name of the game. This is to say, Green Bay agreeing to send Adams to another team that would meet the receiver’s asking price in a market that should be favorable to him.
- Davante Adams stats (2020-21): 238 receptions, 2,927 yards, 29 TD, 75% catch rate
Related: Ideal Davante Adams sign-and-trade scenarios
How free agent market will dicate Davante Adams contract
Even before players can officially ink new contracts, the wide receiver market during NFL’s free agent tampering period has taken off big time. General manager Trent Baalke and the Jacksonville Jaguars signing Christian Kirk to a four-year, $72 million contract adds another layer to this.
- Christian Kirk stats (2021): 77 receptions, 982 yards, 5 TD, 75% catch rate
While Kirk is a pretty darn good player, he’s nowhere near Adams’ caliber. Some will say Baalke overspent and it won’t impact the free-agent market. Others will look at the details of said contract. That’s all fine and dandy. However, his $18 million average annual salary is similar to what Adams would earn under the aforementioned franchise tag.
At this rate, the $23 million Green Bay offered up to Adams is still below market value for a player of his ilk. Should the wide receiver market reset itself even more with a Deebo Samuel extension or something in that vein, Adams’ market will only increase more.
This is the long-form way of saying Davante Adams has likely played his final game in a Packers uniform. Outside of that, it’s not yet known what will happen on this front. Green Bay could play hard ball and call Adams’ bluff.
With that said, acquiring capital in the 2022 NFL Draft for the star receiver could be in the Packers’ best interest as the team goes all in with Aaron Rodgers returning for another season.
