Davante Adams: Aaron Rodgers is partly the reason I left Green Bay

Wide receiver Davante Adams is no longer with the Green Bay Packers and he says quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ looming retirement is partly to blame. While there is no bad blood between the former teammates, Adams does admit Rodgers played a part in his departure.

Adams gave reporters an inside look into why he decided to join the Las Vegas Raiders, saying he did speak to Rodgers about his decision. “Oh, yeah. We’ve talked multiple times. We talked throughout the whole process, too, and he was aware of where I stood, and I was aware of where he stood. We had talks just like what he said the other day,” Adams said.

While looking at his future, Adams said he had to make a decision that was best for his long-term success. “He mentioned we had talks about his future and what he thinks his duration in Green Bay or just football in general would look like, and that played into my decision as well,” the receiver said.

“Because where I am in my career — and this isn’t a shot at anybody, any other quarterbacks, in Green Bay, I love Jordan Love especially, he’s a great guy — I got aspirations of doing really, really big things and being remembered, and it just wasn’t really a point in my career that I was willing to sacrifice Aaron not being there after a year or two.”

Taking everything into consideration, including not knowing how much longer the 38-year-old quarterback would be in the league, helped fuel Adams’ decision to facilitate a trade to the Raiders where he landed a monstrous contract.

He said the move was not just about the money, but also a chance to play closer to his native California and reunite with his former college quarterback Derek Carr. Adams emphasized that there were no hard feelings between he and Rodgers and they both understood the other’s choice.

“So my decision was to be here, and he respected that, he understood that it has a lot to do with where I want to raise my kids, family, being closer to home. … We’ve had a lot of good talks, man. He understands where I’m coming from, I understood where he was coming from, so we kind of just left it at that,” he said.

Rodgers has also spoken out about the star wide receiver leaving the cheese state, saying he “can’t fault” Adams’ decision. This offseason, Adams signed a five-year, $141.25 million contract and Rodgers, who was rumored to possibly be leaving Green Bay, agreed to a four-year, $200 million extension.