Davante Adams Traded To New York Jets To Chase A Super Bowl

For people of a certain age, the song that best speaks to receiver Davante Adams being traded to the New York Jets was sung by Peaches and Herb: 

Reunited and it Feels So Good.

Musicians Herb Fame and Francine 'Peaches' Hurd Barker, better known as the duo Peaches and Herb, perform at Chicagofest, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1980. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

Adams And Rodger Reunited

That's where we're at after Adams was dealt to the team that will reunite him with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers and Adams played together eight seasons from 2014 to 2021 with the Green Bay Packers. And now Adams joins the Jets one year after Rodgers was traded to the Jets in 2023.

The Jets send a 2025 third-round pick that is conditional and can become a second-rounder based on various performance thresholds, per a source.

The Jets front office is expected to somehow adjust the contract Adams brings with him to New Jersey to decrease the nearly $13 million salary the team would have to pay and accept on its salary cap without such an adjustment.

The Jets took that whole salary hit as the Raiders stood firm on not paying part of the money in the exchange.

Davante Adams Unhappy In Las Vegas

So why this trade?

Well, Adams wasn't happy with the Raiders a mere two years after he arrived via trade in March of 2022. The Raiders gave up a first- and second round pick in the 2022 draft to acquire Adams.

That was a trade Adams practically engineered. He has admitted he believed Rodgers was close to retirement. And he didn't know if Jordan Love would be any good as the successor.

And he wanted to play with college teammate Derek Carr in Vegas. So, Adams forced a trade by telling the Packers he wouldn't re-sign with them the following offseason so they would lose him and get nothing in return.

Except Carr was traded released by the Raiders after the 2022 season. Coach Josh McDaniels was fired during the 2023 season. That led to a lot of uncertainty.

Although Adams agreed to play for McDaniels, he quickly soured on McDaniels and was one of the players prominently mentioned as a reason by the coach had lost the locker room.

But although Adams endorsed new coach Antonio Pierce to become the interim and then the full-time coach after McDaniels, that relationship didn't exactly bloom as management expected.

Davante Adams seems to tease Aaron Rodgers to the Raiders. (Credit: Getty Images)

Adams Wants Familiar Good QB

Two weeks ago, as he was still trying to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered in practice the previous week, Adams asked to speak with Pierce. And in a meeting in the coach's office, a source said that is where Adams asked to be traded.

The reason? 

Adams felt the Raiders were in something of a rebuild mode, especially on offense. And particularly at quarterback with journeyman Gardner Minshew and second-year veteran Aidan O'Connell.

Adams, meanwhile, sees himself as a soon-to-be 32-year-old who still hasn't won a Super Bowl ring. And wasn't likely to with the Raiders.

So why do the Jets make sense?

Because if Adams is desperate to win now, the Jets embody win-now desperation.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: Aaron Rodgers of New York Jets runs with the ball during the NFL match between New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 06, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Jets Desperate For Success

The club fired head coach Robert Saleh last week. The surprise move made by owner Woody Johnson was made, in Johnson's words, because the club is "not where we should be" based on internal expectations. 

This team still believes it can do great things and that includes Rodgers.

Rodgers won four MVP awards in his career but only one Super Bowl – that in the 2010-11 season.

He is 40 years old and wants to win another. Now.

The Jets haven't won a Super Bowl since 1969. With Joe Namath. Before cell phones. Heck, before four-wheel disc brakes.

New York fans are desperate to win another before their great grandfathers who enjoyed the first championship die.

And, of course, the Jets braintrust is desperate to win, well, anything. 

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - SEPTEMBER 19: Head coach Robert Saleh of the New York Jets celebrates with Aaron Rodgers #8 after a touchdown against the New England Patriots during the second quarter in the game at MetLife Stadium on September 19, 2024 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Adams Upgrades Jets Offense

The team is 2-4, which already claimed Saleh's job status. 

General manager Joe Douglas similarly has been unsuccessful at putting a winning team on the field. Hired in 2019, the Jets have never had a winning season since Douglas has been the GM.

And how can adding Adams help? He's caught over 100 passes each of the past four seasons, including the last two in Las Vegas from quarterbacks who were struggling.

He can relieve the double-teaming Jets No. 1 receiver Garrett Wilson often sees and, indeed, will probably become the club's new No. 1 receiver.

And he has chemistry with Rodgers whereas the current New York receiver corps has been hoping to build that with the notable exception of Allen Lazard, whose problem is he cannot catch a cold.

So the trade everyone expected and made sense has been made. Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers are reunited. We'll see if they feel so good in the coming games.