Rams to sign 3-time All-Pro WR Davante Adams to two-year deal
Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams, the team announced Sunday.
Adams arrives as the Rams prepare to move on from standout wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
The New York Jets released Adams on March 4, three weeks after announcing they were parting with his favorite quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.
Adams’ two-year deal with the Rams has an $8 million base salary in 2025 and $16 million in 2026. His 2025 base salary is guaranteed and he has a $6 million roster bonus guaranteed on the third day of the 2026 league year. He also has a $12 million signing bonus and $1 million available in incentives each year.
Adams was due to count $38.3 million on the Jets’ salary cap — a 2025 league high for wide receivers. That includes $35.6 million in nonguaranteed base salary, the contract they inherited in October when they acquired Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2025 third-round pick.
The Jets received major cap relief, clearing $29.9 million from this season’s cap.
The Jets’ new regime — coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey — worked to shed all remnants from the Rodgers era, which ended last season with a 5-12 record and triggered an organizational reboot.
After a slow start, Adams came on strong toward the end of last season and finished with 67 catches, 854 yards and 7 touchdowns in 11 games for the Jets. Combined with his Las Vegas production, he exceeded 1,000 yards for the fifth straight season. His signature performance was a nine-catch, 198-yard performance with the Jets in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Adams, 32, a three-time first-team All-Pro, has 957 receptions for 11,844 yards and 103 touchdowns in 11 seasons.
A second-round pick of the Packers in 2014, Adams spent his first eight seasons in Green Bay and ranks second in franchise history in touchdown catches (93) and receptions (669) and fourth in receiving yards (8,121).
ESPN’s Rich Cimini and Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.
Jeremy Fowler joins “SportsCenter” to break down Myles Garrett’s record-breaking contract extension with the Browns. (2:08)
The Cleveland Browns and Myles Garrett have agreed on a record contract extension that averages $40 million per year and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money, making the star defensive end the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, sources told ESPN.
The Browns announced the four-year extension, which runs through the 2030 season, on Sunday but did not disclose financial terms.
Garrett’s agent, Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports, and Browns general manager Andrew Berry finalized the deal Sunday, according to sources, ending a standoff that started last month when Garrett requested a trade out of Cleveland.
The extension also includes a no-trade clause, according to sources, and re-establishes Garrett’s Hall of Fame trajectory that he referred to as “Cleveland to Canton.”
The sides agreed to the deal two days after reports circulated that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam recently declined a request to meet with Garrett over the trade request and instead referred the four-time All-Pro to Berry.
Both Garrett and the Browns had been dug in on their respective stances — the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year wanted to be traded to a contender, and the organization was adamant that they would not acquiesce to the request.
Garrett officially announced his trade request on Feb. 3, saying in a statement that his “goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”
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Garrett had previously mentioned that he did not want to endure another rebuild with the Browns, who are coming off a 3-14 season and hold the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft amid uncertainty at their quarterback position.
Garrett’s deal also eclipses the value of the recent extension signed by Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby, who agreed Wednesday to a three-year, $106.5 million deal that made him the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback at the time.
This past season, Garrett became the first player to record 100 career sacks before his 29th birthday since sacks became an official stat in 1982. He was named the AP Defensive Player of the Year for the 2023 season, and his 14 sacks in 2024 ranked second in the NFL.
The Browns originally selected Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Since entering the league, Garrett’s 102.5 sacks only trails the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt, who has 108.
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.
Check out the numbers behind Aaron Jones’ stellar season with the Vikings that led to a 2-year deal to remain in Minnesota. (0:53)
Running back Aaron Jones is re-signing with the Minnesota Vikings on a two-year, $20 million deal that includes $13 million guaranteed, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday.
The Vikings later announced they had reached agreement with Jones but did not disclose terms.
Jones signed a one-year contract worth $7 million with the Vikings last spring after turning down a pay cut from the Green Bay Packers. That made Jones the latest in a long line of Packers castoffs to join their divisional rival, a group that also includes quarterback Brett Favre, receiver Greg Jennings and placekicker Ryan Longwell.
Knowing Jones had endured a series of injuries in recent years and was approaching his 30th birthday, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell initially planned to use him in a committee system. But Jones quickly ascended to a feature back role and went on to have one of the most active and productive seasons of his career.
He set career highs in touches (306), carries (255) and offensive snaps (700) while playing in every game of the regular season and postseason. Although he nursed hip, rib and quadriceps injuries, he recorded his highest total of rushing yards (1,138) and second-highest number of yards from scrimmage (1,546) in his career. His offensive snaps were also a career high.
A fifth-round pick in 2017, Jones spent his first seven seasons in Green Bay. Since entering the league, he ranks No. 5 in rushing yards (7,078) and No. 9 in yards from scrimmage (9,562). He also has scored 70 touchdowns (50 rushing).
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.
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Davante Adams signs 2-year deal with Rams after release from Jets
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Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams has made his choice for his next NFL team, and he’s decided to head out west.
Adams agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams, the team announced, as he joins quarterback Matthew Stafford and budding star receiver Puka Nacua in Sean McVay’s offense.
Fox News Digital confirmed the deal is worth $46 million over those two years with $26 million guaranteed.
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New York Jets wide receiver Davante Adams runs the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Choosing the Rams marks the third team for Adams since the start of the 2022 season, and it comes after the New York Jets released him last week after failing to find a trade partner willing to take on the remainder of his five-year, $140 million contract.
Adams was scheduled to be a Jet for another two seasons, but it was always expected that he would either be traded or released. The Jets also made it clear that Aaron Rodgers, the four-time MVP quarterback that Adams wanted to play with in New York, would be released under the new regime.
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There were rumors that wherever Rodgers would go next, Adams would follow. However, since his release, Adams has been able to talk to teams before the legal tampering period, and the Rams became an intriguing spot.
New York acquired Adams this past season before the NFL trade deadline from the Las Vegas Raiders, the organization that previously traded for him from the Green Bay Packers.
Adams’ time in Las Vegas was tumultuous, as the team couldn’t find consistent quarterback play since his arrival. He was rumored to be on the trade block during the 2023 season, but he revealed the team’s change at quarterback was key in him staying through the second half.
But with no improvement under Gardner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell in 2024, Adams was ultimately traded to the team he preferred – the Jets – which reunited him with Rodgers.
New York Jets wide receiver Davante Adams (17) can’t hang onto a pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) after getting past Jacksonville Jaguars safety Darnell Savage during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The two famously had a great connection in Green Bay, as Adams totaled 8,121 yards on 669 catches with 73 touchdowns over eight seasons with Rodgers at the helm. He made five straight Pro Bowls from 2017-21 with the Packers, and he was arguably one of the best receivers in the game with Rodgers tossing him the rock.
Now, Adams has another gunslinging veteran to throw him the football, as the Rams made sure to give Stafford what he wanted to return for the 2025 season after going 10-6 and collecting a Wild Card Round win against the Minnesota Vikings.
Stafford threw for 3,762 yards with 20 touchdowns to eight interceptions over 16 games, where Nacua, the second-year fifth-round pick who has emerged as wide receiver one in Los Angeles, had 990 yards on 79 receptions over 11 games. He had 1,486 yards on 105 catches in his rookie campaign.
Despite Adams’ pedigree in the league, he figures to be the number two next to Nacua, but it should certainly feel more like a one-B situation because of his skill.
New York Jets wide receiver Davante Adams (17) warms up before a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
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That said, the Rams still need to figure out if Cooper Kupp, Stafford’s former top target who they’ve publicly said they would shop this offseason, will be traded. Kupp’s role has diminished since Nacua’s breakout rookie season, and he has two years remaining on his three-year extension worth $80.1 million.
With the Raiders and Jets last season, Adams tailed 85 catches for 1,063 yards with eight touchdowns.
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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.
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