Davante Adams Trade Shows Why Broncos Were Smart Not to Trade for Aaron Rodgers

The worst-kept secret in all of professional football over the past two weeks or so was the desire of Las Vegas Raiders star wideout Davante Adams to be reunited with his old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Adams got his wish on Tuesday, as the Raiders agreed to trade him to the New York Jets for a conditional third-round pick. The Jets are all-in on this season, as Rodgers’ time in the NFL wanes and the championship window New York seemingly wedged open when they traded for the signal-caller last offseason inches shut.

Fans of the Denver Broncos have watched the Rodgers-Adams drama unfold from the sidelines, and should be thankful they’re not more closely involved in the imbroglio.

Fans will no-doubt remember how close the Broncos came to trading for Rodgers ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft. Various reports indicated the deal was almost completed before the Packers decided to keep Rodgers for one more season, and the Broncos pivoted to a pursuit of Russell Wilson instead.

This is not to say that the Broncos made the right choice to go after Wilson, or to hire head coach Nathaniel Hackett in anticipation of Rodgers’ arrival. But not acquiring Rodgers was clearly a good move by the team.

Just look at the choices the Jets have made in the past few weeks. Not only have they shipped a top-100 draft pick out for a 31-year-old wide receiver, they’ve also fired their head coach Robert Saleh despite the calendar only reading October.

These moves clearly indicate a desperate team willing to pull any lever it thinks will bring it closer to a Super Bowl championship. Who’s doing the pulling? Despite stringent denials that he had anything to do with the firing of Saleh, the Adams trade makes it more clear than ever that Rodgers is the one calling the shots.

Whether or not giving Rodgers the level of control he seems to have over the Jets franchise is a good idea or not remains to be seen, but the Broncos are finally on the path to rebuilding from the ground-up, as many of the most successful NFL franchises have done in recent years. They’ve got a quality head coach, a young quarterback they’re willing to stick with, and a full contingent of draft picks in 2025.

None of those things can now be said about the Jets. Broncos fans may have seen a few more wins if the team had traded for Rodgers ahead of 2022, but the long-term success of the franchise seems more secure now than it would have been if Rodgers were playing in orange and blue.