Davante Adams confirms what every Packers fan thought about why he left Green Bay

The same week Aaron Rodgers signed a contract extension, the Green Bay Packers traded Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders.

It made zero sense at the time. Why would the Packers pay Rodgers to go all-in but then immediately trade their best (and only) star receiver? Who did they think they were, the Dallas Cowboys? It's one of Brian Gutekunst's biggest mistakes as Green Bay's general manager because it could've been prevented months earlier.

Eight months before Adams' departure, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the two sides had broken off negotiations over a new deal.

Had the Packers been willing to meet Adams' contract demands, he would likely still be in Green Bay today. He was the best wide receiver in the NFL, and it made no sense not to offer him a fair deal.

Adams had another All-Pro season, and Green Bay used the franchise tag to prevent him from leaving for nothing in free agency, but they ultimately traded him to Las Vegas.

Davante Adams reveals why he wanted to leave Packers

Adams was a guest on The Rush With Maxx Crosby podcast, where he went into detail about why he felt insulted by the Packers' offer and wanted to leave. Despite uncertainty over Aaron Rodgers' future beyond the 2021 season, Adams was willing to look past that and sign a long-term deal.

"I basically told them, if y'all can figure this out now going into this last year of my deal, because I had no security. I was basically playing under worse than the tag that year," said Adams. "I was like the 20th-highest-paid receiver in the league. I'm like, look, Aaron has his stuff kind of back and forth every year. I'll ignore all of that if we can do this a year early, knock this out."

Adams wanted Green Bay to make him a fair offer, but their proposal fell well short of his expectations.

"They threw some deal at me that was like, barely made me even want to play for them that year," Adams said. "But I was like, I'm going to be there, I'm going to be in camp. I told them, you're not even going to notice that I'm irritated. I'm going to be the player I'm supposed to be. Obviously, I went and did that."

Adams put together another All-Pro season, but the damage was done. The Packers wouldn't meet his demands and let him play out the final year of his deal without the long-term security an extension would've provided. Understandably, he wanted to move on.

A year later, Rodgers would join him in the AFC, beginning a new era in Green Bay.

Imagine a world where the Packers did make Adams the highest-paid receiver in football in the summer of 2021. He would likely still be on the roster catching passes from Jordan Love. How different would the offense look? They almost certainly wouldn't have drafted six receivers between 2022 and 2023.

We'll never know the answer, but an Adams-Love combination would've been fun.

Gutekunst has made many smart decisions as Packers GM, but his handling of the final year of Adams' contract was a huge error.

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