The Packers shocked the world when they traded Davante Adams to the Raiders to reunite him with his college quarterback Derek Carr. It broke up Adams and Aaron Rodgers, one of the most productive QB-receiver pairings in the NFL, but a former Green Bay legend thinks Adams will take the brunt of the hit in his stats.
According to Brett Favre, Adams and Carr are going to have a great connection, but it's not going to be an instantaneous match made in heaven.
"No disrespect to Davante at all -- zero disrespect. I do think that Davante will make Derek Carr better and, in time, they will be a dynamic duo. Now will it be the duo that Aaron and Davante had? Time will tell," Favre said Saturday, per NFL.com. "I think Derek Carr is a very good quarterback, but he's not in Aaron's league yet. He may never be, and that's no disrespect either, but I do think that Davante owes a great deal of gratitude to Aaron and the Packers drafting him."
Rodgers is, of course, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and he's among the best in NFL history in terms of passing talent, but Adams certainly carried his share of the load. In 2021 he caught 38 percent of Rodgers' passing yards, and in 2022 it was 32 percent.
Adams and Carr connected for more than 3,000 yards and 38 touchdowns in two seasons at Fresno State, but that was two quality NFL starters playing in the Mountain West so it's hardly the end-all be-all.
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Nevertheless, if history is to repeat itself as it so often does, Adams may be in for some growing pains. Take, for example, John Jefferson. When he was separated from Dan Fouts in 1981 by being traded from the Chargers to the Packers, he fell off by 698 yards and nine touchdowns.
When James Lofton was traded from the Packers to the Raiders, he had just one 1,000-yard season for the rest of his career after logging five with the Packers. Sometimes that transition is difficult.
How helpful is Davante Adams to a quarterback?
Painting the relationship between Rodgers and Adams as anything but symbiotic would be deeply dishonest, something Favre tacitly acknowledges.
"That's not to say he's not a great player because he is a tremendous player and we'll see that with Las Vegas," he said. "But it's just hard to shift gears, especially from a player as prolific as Aaron Rodgers. I'd be shocked if he had the same year he's had this year. That's not to say he can't do it, but I would be shocked."
Adams leaves the Packers second all-time in receptions and touchdowns at 669 and 73, respectively, and fourth all-time in receiving yards at 8,121. Only Donald Driver, Lofton and Sterling Sharpe are ahead of him. Favre was often a beneficiary of Driver's talent and Sharpe helped Favre get his feet off the ground in the earliest reaches of his career, so he knows the benefits of great talent.
Favre, however, doesn't seem to be particularly worried about Rodgers moving on from who may have been his first truly elite target.
"They'll be okay," he said. "It's hard to replace a great player like Davante Adams. It's hard to replace Aaron Rodgers. You don't replace those players. You plug someone and hope that the others take up the slack until that person finds their own way. Aaron's too good. Much like Tom Brady has gone into every season and manage to systematically tear teams apart with whoever -- It doesn't matter. And that will be the case with Aaron."
If anything, losing Adams possibly hinders Rodgers' odds of winning a third straight MVP, which would tie Favre's run from 1995 to 1997. The Packers' receiving room is very much a work in progress for the time being.
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What to expect from Carr and Adams in Las Vegas
Adams may not put up the All-Pro-level numbers he has the past two seasons, but the drop-off likely won't be precipitous.
Adams is one of the NFL's eminent route runners, and that will benefit a player like Carr in the Josh McDaniels offense. Adams is also one of the best wide receivers McDaniels has worked with in a long time, so expect to see him in a lot of space.
Carr is coming off a career-best season in which he threw for 4,804 yards for 23 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. By adding a superstar receiver with whom he has some familiarity, the Raiders may be able to get him a similar season statistically with a bit more efficiency thrown in.