A genuine blockbuster NFL trade happened on Thursday when the Green Bay Packers sent star receiver Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Adams is a superstar. In the last four seasons, he’s exceeded 100 receptions, 1,000 yards and had double-digit touchdown receptions three times. The lone exception was 2019 when he caught 83 passes for 997 yards with five touchdowns in 12 games.
Losing a player like that is going to sting. A natural question to ask following the deal is, what does Aaron Rodgers think? Early reports are that he was at least aware of the possibility. Some of his teammates in Green Bay seemed more caught off guard — and not particularly happy.
Of course, there are two sides to every trade.
While the Packers were sad to see one of their best players leave town, it was a different story in Las Vegas. Noted Raiders fan Damian Lillard had a non-printable tweet. Adams’ new teammates were also thrilled, starting with his college quarterback, Derek Carr.
There were others.
Adams was also welcomed to the Raiders by Chandler Jones, whose status as the newest player on the team didn’t last long.
https://twitter.com/chanjones55/status/1504605036470448153
Time will tell how well these moves pan out. But the Raiders were clearly not going to sit back and let their AFC West rivals have all the fun in what’s been a crazy offseason for that division.