Davante Adams has openly expressed his admiration for Jordan Love, the rising star quarterback he left behind at the Green Bay Packers. Despite switching allegiance to the Raiders in 2022, Adams holds no remorse over his move but admits he's impressed with Love's performance.
Chatting on "The Rush" podcast alongside Raiders mate Maxx Crosby, Adams spilled the beans on how Love's perceived potential or lack thereof didn't sway his decision to jump ship. "At the time when I was [in Green Bay], I hadn't necessarily seen enough to say this is for sure what I should do," he confessed.
"But in hindsight, like we talked about, the kid is a ... baller, man. I'm so happy for him."
Adams, who didn't get much game time with Love, voiced a yearning to catch up with the 25 year old prodigy and praise him for his feats at Green Bay.
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"I haven't really had a chance to truly sit down and talk with him, but I want to tell him at some point like, 'I definitely don't regret changing [teams], but I'm super proud of what you've done," Adams shared. "'If there's a way I could pull you over here [to Las Vegas] and drag you with me like that, that would've been cool, too.'"
"Obviously, we saw what he did at the end of the year," he said. "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.'".
It wasn't until last year that Love made a real splash on the NFL scene. In his first full season as Green Bay's starter, he completed 372-of-579 passes (64.2%) for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns, leading the Packers to the playoffs and NFC Divisional Round.
Despite spending two seasons alongside Love in Green Bay from 2020-2021, Adams never got to see how talented he could be. That's because the rising star was stuck behind Aaron Rodgers in the quarterback order, who was named the NFL MVP in successive campaigns.
After building a formidable partnership with Rodgers over eight years, Adams requested a move to the Raiders, teaming up once more with Derek Carr, another familiar face in Fresno State. Their combined NFL journey didn't last long though, as Carr lost his starting place after poor performances towards the end of the 2022 season and was later dropped by Las Vegas.
With Carr out of the picture, Jimmy Garoppolo and rookie Aidan O'Connell stepped up as quarterbacks for the Raiders last season, but neither made a significant impact. The Raiders have since signed free agent Gardner Minshew, who is set to compete with O'Connell for the top quarterback spot in training camp.
The uncertainty surrounding the Raiders' quarterback position is in stark contrast to the Packers' situation. Following the success of multiple MVP winners Brett Favre and Rodgers, Adams suggested that Love could be the "next one" in Green Bay.
"I think he is. I think he has shown that," he said. "He is starting to come into his own. You can see the way he is talking in front of media and everything. It's like a whole different person than what I saw when I was there. That comes with experience."