Ian Hartitz presents a rapid reaction to Davante Adams signing with the Los Angeles Rams.

The NFL couldn't even wait until the beginning of legal tampering to light some fireworks ahead of free agency: Former Packers, Raiders, and most recently Jets WR Davante Adams has signed with the Los Angeles Rams on a two-year, $46 million deal with $26 million guaranteed. The $23 million per year valuation is tied with Calvin Ridley for "just" the 17th-most annual dollars at the position.

First question you probably have: Is Adams still even that good anymore?

Answer: Yes. Does this look like a washed WR to you?

It took Adams a bit to catch his groove with Aaron Rodgers last season, but things actually went quite nicely down the stretch. Overall, only Ja'Marr Chase (151.3) and Brian Thomas (137.2) scored more fantasy points (PPR) than Adams (136.6) during the final six weeks of 2024.

While there has been some sign of decline when it comes to Adams' ability to separate, even a lesser version of the longtime stud is still pretty damn good relative to most players at the position.

Davante Adams "Open Score" since 2020:

  • 2020: 99 (1st)
  • 2021: 85 (6th)
  • 2022: 81 (8th)
  • 2023: 71 (15th)
  • 2024: 77 (14th)

Turning 33 next December, Adams doesn't profile as the same game-changing alpha he was three or so years ago; just realize the three-time All-Pro still appears to offer the sort of savvy route-running ability and underrated after-the-catch goodness to boost any passing game in the league, particularly one that has proved to be quite adept at creating bunches of opportunities for its receivers in recent years.

Enter: Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, who have helped engineer some glorious campaigns from Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp in recent years. Hell, the same goes for Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods: Rams WRs as a whole rank second in both receptions and receiving yards since McVay and Stafford joined forces in 2021.

Obviously Nacua will still see plenty of targets, but don't discount Adams' ability to also flirt with something like 140 or so targets across a 17-game season. After all, likely free agent/trade candidate Kupp (100 targets in 2024) and free agent Demarcus Robinson (64) are both tentatively expected to be out of the picture in 2025, and de facto No. 3 WR Tutu Atwell is more of a field-stretching specialist than someone ready to actively challenge Adams for targets.

Ultimately, it's hard to dispute the Rams as one of, if not the single best, landing spot for Adams: I'm comfortable treating him as a legit borderline WR1 alongside younguns like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, and Ladd McConkey.

As for Nacua: I believe each of the following three points to be true.

  • We've already seen the phenom manage just fine when competing for targets on the same field as Kupp.
  • The signing of Adams might not exactly help Puka's path to leading the league in targets or with snagging that overall WR1 crown. 
  • It's probably not wise to bet too heavily against the WR6 in PPR points per game over the past two seasons falling off too hard.

I'm holding firm on my pre-trade ranking and keeping Nacua as my WR4 overall behind only Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and CeeDee Lamb, but the added target competition does probably leave the rising third-year talent in more of a tier with guys like Brian Thomas, Nico Collins, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Malik Nabers.

Congrats to Adams, congrats to Stafford, congrats to Rams fans: Everyone should be feeling awfully happy about this match … except for Aaron Rodgers. Man, Stafford really snatched Rodgers' hopeful job AND now his BFF in the span of like a week. Life comes at you fast.