Davante Adams talks “Last Dance” and Packers’ contract offer

On a July night in 2021, now former Green Bay Packers Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers set the football world ablaze by posting a photo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen during their “Last Dance” season with the Chicago Bulls on social media. A year earlier, ESPN’s “Last Dance” documentary chronicled the final season of the Bulls dynasty. With Rodgers — at that point — vocally critical of the organization and Adams in the final year of his contract, this sent a message to Packers fans everywhere: This partnership was about to come to an end.

According to Adams, who recently was on the I AM ATHLETE YouTube show, it was all meant to be a joke, though.

It was the offseason. We was poking a little fun. It is what it is. I got asked a million times after that about that. I posted it then Aaron had put it up, too, and it had started a whole bunch of stuff. And it wound up being the Last Dance when it wasn’t really like a real thing.

Adams said that if the team had offered him what he felt was a fair contract, he “would have been in Green Bay for sure.” Instead, he played out the 2021 season with the Packers before being traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for a first- and second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Per Adams, the Packers’ initial extension offer to the All-Pro receiver was “south of 20 [million dollars per year],” which is well short of the $28 million per season that Adams received in an extension with the Raiders.

The receiver stated that he felt like he had already played a season on a franchise tag in his limbo season which was 2021. He said that was a factor in him moving on once Green Bay elected to place the tag on him, rather than extending him long term, in 2022. He also claimed that Rodgers’ uncertain future with the team had some influence on the decision.

There doesn’t seem to be a major beef between the two sides now, though. Adams said, “Honestly, there was no bad blood. I still respect and talk to a lot of those guys over there.” He mentioned that he talked to Packers team president Mark Murphy after playing some golf, texted Matt LaFleur on the head coach’s birthday and spoke to general manager Brian Gutekunst during Pro Bowl week last season. “It was just a business decision that had to be made.”

Still, the Adams and Packers saga hasn’t reached the peak that it will in Week 5 of 2023, the first time that the two will face off for the first time. Green Bay will head to Vegas on October 9th for a Monday Night Football matchup that will almost certainly see ESPN play up that particular angle in the pre-game show.

If you would like to watch the full clip from I AM ATHLETE, you can find it linked down below.