Aaron Rodgers Jokingly Responds to Davante Adams' HOF Comments About Him, Derek Carr
Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers was apparently paying attention when Davante Adams said he was going from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another Hall of Famer.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, the reigning back-to-back NFL MVP was asked about getting Allen Lazard back after the wide receiver skipped offseason activities in an attempt to get a new contract.
"I mean, it's always tough going from Hall of Famer to Hall of Famer," Rodgers cheekily replied.
In an interview last week, CBS Sports' Josina Anderson asked Adams about the adjustment from Rodgers to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
"Any time you change quarterbacks from Hall of Famer to Hall of Famer ... it's gonna be a little bit of an adjustment," Adams responded.
After the comment received some blowback, Adams clarified his sentiment without retracting anything he said while speaking to reporters Sunday:
"Derek's career, honestly, you look at the numbers that he's had and what he's had to work with and the adversity that he's had in Oakland and coming to Vegas and the type of stuff that's been going on here in the past, which, hopefully we're putting all that stuff to bed, but, yeah, I didn't deliver that message the way that I had in my head. So later, when I saw [the original quote] written out, it kind of made my stomach drop a little bit because I was like, 'Oh, god, here we go. People are going to blow this up and take everything I say, and we're the only team in camp right now.'"
The Rodgers-Adams connection was one of the most successful quarterback-receiver pairings in NFL history.
After a decent start to his career in 2014 and 2015, Adams averaged 142 targets for approximately 97 receptions and 1,200 receiving yards per season, along with 11.5 touchdowns, from 2016 to 2021.
Despite their success together, Adams reportedly rejected a contract offer from the Packers this offseason that would have paid him more than the Raiders' offer of five years and $141.25 million. The five-time Pro Bowler wanted to be in Las Vegas and reunited with Carr, who was his college teammate for three seasons at Fresno State from 2011 to 2013.
Rodgers is very aware of what he's doing at all times. ESPN's Kevin Van Valkenburg noted in January that the 38-year-old highlighted Atlas Shrugged on his bookshelf during an appearance on ESPN's Monday Night Football "ManningCast" last season because "it was the book with the biggest spine on his bookshelf" and he "suspected that alone might annoy certain people."
Even though Rodgers trolled his former teammate, this is an important training camp for the Packers. They are betting on Lazard to up his game and make up for some of the production lost when Adams got traded.
Lazard is coming off his best season in 2021. The 26-year-old had 513 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 40 receptions in 15 games. He has only had two games with at least 100 yards in four seasons.
The Packers have won 13 games during the regular season in each of the past three seasons but have fallen short of the Super Bowl every year.
