It's certainly no secret that the Green Bay Packers and Davante Adams didn't part ways on the friendliest of terms four years ago.
For those who may not recall or simply need a refresher, Adams played the 2021 campaign for the Packers on the final season of the four-year, $58 million extension he'd signed in December 2017. And the Fresno State alum did exactly what anyone up for a new deal would hope to do by going out and having one of the best years of his career, setting single-season franchise records for receptions (123) and receiving yards (1,553) and scoring 11 touchdowns, thus earning a fifth consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl as well as a second straight First-Team All-Pro selection. He'd tied Sterling Sharpe's single-season record with 18 receiving TDs a season earlier, by the way.
Adams didn't hide his desire to become the league's highest-paid wideout, and while the Packers were seemingly on the same page, the two sides disagreed as to what that figure should be. Discussions stalled, Green Bay slapped the franchise tag on him, which Adams refused to accept, and he was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom he signed a lucrative extension that was ultimately less than what the Packers had offered.
The California native only played two full seasons in Vegas before being traded midway through the 2024 season to the New York Jets, thus reuniting with Aaron Rodgers. Both, of course, were released last March, and while there were rumblings of a Green Bay reunion with Adams, nothing obviously came to fruition, as he signed a two-year, $44 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams.
Now, there was a slight chance for a reunion this offseason, but the likelihood of that happening has gone from slim to absolutely none now that Matthew Stafford has announced that he'll be returning for the 2026 season.
Matthew Stafford's return to the Rams kills any chance of the Packers reuniting with Davante Adams
Late last month, Over The Cap listed Adams, who had a strong 2025 in leading the entire league with 14 TD receptions, as a possible cut candidate, which seemed a bit surprising, seeing as how the Rams would take a massive dead cap hit by releasing him, $14 million if it happened before June 1 and $10 million with a post-June 1 release.
The only reason the Rams would conceivably consider such a move was if Stafford wasn't coming back, which wasn't out of the realm of possibility. If you recall, an aggravated disc in his back caused him to miss most of training camp prior to this past season, and there were concerns that he might not even be able to suit up for a 17th season.
Stafford, of course, did take the field and went out and led Los Angeles to a 12-5 regular-season record, leading the league in both passing yards (4,707) and touchdown passes (46) to earn his third career Pro Bowl selection, a First-Team All-Pro nod, and ultimately the NFL Most Valuable Player Award.
And during his acceptance speech at last week's NFL Honors ceremony, Stafford put all the retirement rumors to bed by publicly announcing his plans to return to the Rams for the 2026 season.
Had Stafford opted for retirement in lieu of returning for an 18th season, the Rams releasing Adams might make sense. But there's no way that's happening now.
Even if things had taken that turn, there's obviously no guarantee that the Packers would have pursued the 33-year-old, even if the bad blood between the two sides seems to have subsided.
Ahead of the Rams' Divisional Round showdown with the Chicago Bears, who'd ended Green Bay's season a week earlier with a comeback for the ages in the Wild Card Round, Adams even said, "Once a Packer, always a Packer," emphasizing that if Cheeseheads got something out of the Bears losing, which they did, it'd be an added bonus.
Perhaps the Packers and Adams will reunite at some point, even if only on a one-day contract once he retires. But for now, he'll continue to chase that elusive Lombardi Trophy away from Lambeau Field.