When wide receiver Davante Adams made the move from the Packers to the Raiders, he was leaving behind a partnership with Aaron Rodgers but excited about the chance to play with college teammate Derek Carr.
Any hopes that the duo would light things up faded quickly, however. The Raiders went 6-11 as Carr got benched and then cut after the 2022 season and 2023 saw a head coaching change on the way to another losing season. Speculation that Adams could be traded again has lingered over the Raiders because of how things have played out, but things have been brighter with his former team.
Rodgers’ departure opened the door for Jordan Love as the starting quarterback and Green Bay advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs after Love’s strong finish to his first year running the offense. During an appearance on The Rush podcast with Raiders teammate Maxx Crosby, Adams said he “hadn’t seen enough” of Love to know what the future held when he left Green Bay but that he’s been watching and he’s been impressed by what he’s seen.
“In hindsight, like we talked about, the kid is a fucking baller, man. I’m so happy for him,” Adams said. “I haven’t had the chance to truly sit down and talk with him, but I want to tell him at some point ‘I definitely don’t regret changing, but I’m super proud of what you’ve done. If there was a way I could pull you over here and drag you with me that would have been cool too.’ Because, obviously, we saw what he did at the end of the year. I don’t regret what I did, but, at the same time, it’s definitely you look back on it like ‘damn that boy kind of balling right now.’”
The Raiders don’t have the same kind of certainty at quarterback as they head into the 2024 season with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell as their options, so Adams will have to hope that their offense is still able to catch fire despite that difference.
The Packers added three offensive linemen to their roster in the draft and two more undrafted rookies are set to sign with the team as well.
The Packers announced that they have agreed to terms with eight undrafted players, including Trente Jones and Donovan Jennings. Tackle Jordan Morgan, center Jacob Monk and tackle Travis Glover were the offensive linemen acquired in the draft.
Jones started at right tackle in the last three games of last season’s national title run for Michigan and he started 16 games overall during his time in Ann Arbor. A number of those starts came as a sixth offensive lineman.
Jennings started 45 games at USF, including their Boca Raton Bowl win over Syracuse to cap the 2023 season.
The Packers also agreed to terms with Wisconsin long snapper Peter Bowden, Northern Illinois defensive lineman James Ester, Washington linebacker Ralen Gofort, Alcorn State running back Jarveon Howard, Ohio defensive lineman Rodney Mathews, and Arizona State tight Messiah Swinson.
The final bow has been put on the trade that sent quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Packers to the Jets last season.
Green Bay came into the 2024 draft with the Jets’ second-round pick, but they wound up dealing away the selection — No. 41 — to the Saints for the 45th, 168th and 190th picks. They took linebacker Edgerrin Cooper at No. 45 and then traded the 168th pick to the Bills to move up five spots to select center Jacob Monk.
The Packers then traded the 190th pick to the Jets and the Jets traded it to the Eagles for the 171st pick. They took former Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis at that spot.
Rodgers, the 15th and 170th picks in the 2023 draft went to the Jets for the 13th, 42nd, and 207th picks in 2023 as well as the 2024 second-rounder. The Jets took edge rusher Will McDonald at No. 15 and traded the other pick. The Packers added edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, tight end Luke Musgrave, and kicker Anders Carlson with their 2023 picks.
In the end, Detroit saw Nashville’s 600,000 and raised it. By a lot.
Per the NFL, “over 775,000” attended the three-day draft. That surpasses the prior record, from 2019, by nearly 30 percent.
Next year, Green Bay gets its turn. The fact that a division rival drew so many people will surely be regarded as a challenge by Green Bay and all of Wisconsin to match or exceed it.
It feels like, somewhere, the draft will hit one million for the three days, sooner than later. It’s come a very long way from Radio City Music Hall, where the first night was magical and the second night was OK and the third day featured tons of empty seats. (I was present for each of the last five drafts held there.)
The league left in 2015 because of a scheduling conflict. The draft went to Chicago for two years and then to Philly and it will never look back.
The next time it’s in New York, it won’t be in Radio City Music Hall. And it will feature a lot more people. Hell, it might be held in Times Square, turning New Year’s Eve into a three-day affair.
Regardless, look for the draft to keep on moving. And look for it to keep on getting bigger and bigger.
The Packers drafted Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt with the 245th overall pick.
He joins Sean Clifford and Alex McGough on the team’s depth chart behind Jordan Love.
Pratt, 22, started 44 games in his four-year career at Tulane, finishing with a 60.6 completion percentage and 9,603 yards with 90 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
Pratt also ran for 1,145 yards and 28 touchdowns on 447 career carries.
He is the school’s all-time leader in several categories, including total touchdowns and total offense.
In 2023, he earned AAC offensive player of the year honors despite missing two games with a left knee injury. He completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 2,406 yards with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions. Pratt also rushed for 286 yards and five touchdowns.