Wide receiver is one of the most exciting markets going into 2022 NFL free agency. There are plenty of big names set to become available. However, several of them come with asterisks. Chris Godwin, Michael Gallup, Juju Smith-Schuster, and D.J. Chark suffered season-ending injuries. Allen Robinson regressed in a big way last season as well. The only proven commodity that won’t have any trouble garnering tons of interest is Davante Adams.
Most agree the Green Bay Packers All-Pro is probably the best receiver in the NFL right now. His 2,927 yards and 29 touchdowns over the past two years alone offer more than enough proof of that. The 30-year old is at the top of his game. One would think the Chicago Bears, a team coming off a 6-11 season, have little hope of enticing him, given their iffy QB situation.
Except nothing is ever predictable in the NFL.
A source reached out to SM recently with an unexpected bit of information. There is a belief the Bears will see if they can make a play for Adams next month when the offseason begins. The driving force behind this movement is new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. He worked with Adams for years in Green Bay, and the two have built a strong relationship. Enough to where the coach made the receiver his confidant.
“Getsy and Davante are extremely close. Davante was the very first person Luke told he is taking the OC job in Chicago before even Matt (Lafleur), Brian (Gutekunst), Russ (Ball), or Mark (Murphy). That should tell you their relationship.”
Such a statement is easy to believe.
Adams has already confirmed how much love and respect he has for Getsy. Matt Schneidman of The Athletic did a profile on the young coach last month. He had a story involving the wide receiver going out of his way to praise Getsy.
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When asked earlier this season about Ravens passing game coordinator Keith Williams, Davante Adams’ college position coach and longtime personal coach, Adams, unprompted, praised Getsy’s influence on him.
“One of the unsung heroes is Coach Getsy,” Adams said of his wide receivers coach in the first two years his career took off after struggling in 2014 and ’15. “Luke Getsy is a coach who I really really enjoyed having. … I had a lot of respect for Gets and what he did with us because he played quarterback, so the way he dove into the wideout position as far as the particulars, that helped open up my eyes even more so than what I learned from (Williams) before that. So he’s a guy who’s trying to be a master at his craft.”
Adams believes the new Bears offensive coordinator played a pivotal role in him becoming the superstar he is today. This would explain why the team might feel confident they can land him if given a chance.
Bears must clear two hurdles for Davante Adams to be realistic
The first is the Packers themselves. It isn’t clear what they plan to do about their star receiver. The team is projected to be $50 million over the salary cap as of this moment. So they have a ton of work to do if they’re going to get under. Never mind being able to find the money to pay their best players. Rumors persist they could end up franchise tagging Adams. Either as a way to keep him one more year or perhaps trade him elsewhere.
If that doesn’t happen, then the other issue comes into play—the price. There were reports that Davante Adams is hoping to get paid upwards of $30 million per year. That would make him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL by a considerable margin, beating out DeAndre Hopkins’ $27.5 million. According to Over The Cap, the Bears are currently projected to have $28.64 million available. Given all the other roster holes they need to fill, it seems unlikely they’d hand all of that to one player.
Even one as good as Adams.
There are various ways to work around such a problem. High guarantees in the deal to keep the cap hit low. Use void years to serve as a placeholder for prorated bonus money. It allows a team to also lower cap hits. So if the Bears are genuinely determined to land Adams, they can. It would help if he were willing to ease his demands somewhat. Either way, this offers further proof the team is determined to find Justin Fields some serious help this spring.
