Would a Davante Adams reunion make sense next season in Green Bay?

CUE THE MUSIC!

Unrelated: My two jobs in high school were both in retail, a short stint at Shopko (they didn’t want to pick up my 2nd year option) and a longer stint at Walgreens in Sheboygan. Anyone who has ever worked in that industry is VERY familiar with this song. For whatever reason those retail stores decided that soft, adult contemporary music was what best set the mood for people to want to spend money. Like if you heard the song “Ebony and Ivory” at the right time you were more likely to buy a bottle of Pert or something.

But I’d say over a 5-year retail career I probably heard the above song roughly 5,000 times. Not as much as the Linda Ronstadt/Aaron Neville classic, “I Don’t Know Much,” or Savage Garden’s, “Truly Madly Deeply,” but it’s up there*.

Anyway, I think in the immediate aftermath of the Packer season there are two clear areas of need heading into next season:

1. Cornerback. According to Keisean Nixon we’ve already got our #1 corner, but with the likelihood that Jaire Alexander is on his way out and Eric Stokes likely to be released, they have a MAJOR need at that spot. Carrington Valentine is a fine #3, maybe even a #2, but they need help in that spot. I’m not sure we’re headed to a redo of the 1999 NFL Draft where Ron Wolf drafted three straight corners in the aftermath of Randy Moss embarrassing the Packers on national TV in 1998, but it might be close.
2. Wide Receiver. Remember heading into the year when idiot bloggers and podcasters couldn’t shut up about how great it is that the Packers don’t have a #1 receiver because they don’t need one? “We have 5-7 guys that are all on the rise and we can just spread the ball around! Who needs a #1! Tra la la, Seinfeld reference.” DUMB. Say what you want about Jordan Love’s progression (or regression) this season, but almost none of the young wideouts took a step forward, either. And now with Christian Watson’s injury and Romeo Doubs’ concussions (not to mention that incident where he just left the team in the middle of the season still lingering), there is even more uncertainty heading into next season.

Enter: Davante Adams. The free agent market for wideouts is SLIM for 2025. Tee Higgins is the best young receiver on the market, but he has an injury history a lot like Watson’s. Are the Packers going to pay top dollar for Higgins? They’ve already been linked to him, but it feels unlikely. After Higgins it’s guys like Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, and Stefon Diggs.

Given those options? I think a reunion with Davante makes a LOT of sense. He’s got 2 years left on the deal he signed in Vegas, but the contract number is so high that it’s a certainty he’s going to have to rework that deal no matter where ends up. He can opt out of the deal, the Jets could release him (likely), there’s a variety of ways the Packers could put together a reunion.

Now is Davante the same player he was when he left Green Bay three seasons ago? For sure not. But he’s not bad! He somehow put together a 1,000 yard season between Vegas and New York last season, and posted 8 touchdowns. He’s 32 years old which is basically AARP for a skill position player in the NFL, but he’s not old old.

I don’t know, bring in a veteran, future HOFer to mentor some of the younger guys, help Love take a step forward and bring an adult into the room? Sounds good to me. You can probably get him on a 2-year deal in the 20-ish million dollar range I would think. I like that more than giving Higgins $30 million a year on a 4-5 year deal.

*Two absolute BANGERS at Walgreens when you think about them within the context of the soft stuff that played 95% of the time: Los Lonley Boys, “Heaven,” and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles.” Those songs RIPPED.

PS: Listening to Vikings play-by-play man, Paul Allen, scream at Sam Darnold is the first time I’ve smiled since the Packer loss: