FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Three weeks after parting with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the New York Jets are releasing his favorite wide receiver, Davante Adams, a source told ESPN on Tuesday.
The Jets also have given permission to wide receiver Allen Lazard — another Rodgers favorite — to seek a trade before the start of the league year on March 12, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. In all likelihood, he, too, will end up being released.
The Jets are undoing what they did two years ago, when they went all-in for Rodgers by acquiring some of his former Green Bay Packers teammates.
Davante Adams finished last season with 85 receptions for 1,063 yards (for the Jets and Raiders), both his fewest totals since 2019. He still had eight touchdown catches and his 59 receiving touchdowns the last five seasons are the most in the NFL.
The Adams move comes as no surprise, as he was due to count $38.3 million on the salary cap — a 2025 league high for wide receivers. That includes $35.6 million in non-guaranteed base salary, the contract they inherited last October when they acquired Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2025 third-round pick.
By cutting Adams, 32, the Jets received major cap relief, clearing $29.9 million from this year's cap — more than doubling their previous cap room. This will allow them to be aggressive in free agency, though it's not a clean break from Adams. There is an $8.4 million dead charge, the prorated renegotiation bonus he received upon being traded to the Jets.
The only logical way to have kept the still-productive Adams was to renegotiate his contract, and that never seemed like a real possibility. He strongly suggested at the end of the season that his future with the team was tied to Rodgers. They
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