Former Packers wide receiver Davante Adams says his 2022 season with Raiders shows 'he didn't need Aaron Rodgers'

Davante Adams wants to put the narrative to rest.

When he was traded from the Green Bay Packers to the Las Vegas Raiders in March 2022, a talking point was whether he could continue his tremendous success in his NFL career without Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback.

“Now people can’t say that,” Adams told Mirin Fader in a story published this week in The Ringer. “That’ll never be the narrative ever again."

Last season proved it, Adams said.

In his eight years with the Packers from 2014 through 2021, Adams had 669 receptions for 8,121 yards and 73 touchdowns. The touchdown total was the second-most in the league during that period — he had the most from 2016 through 2021 — and the receptions and yards were top-five marks.

For the first time, he earned first-team all-pro honors in 2020 when he led the NFL in touchdown catches with 18 and receiving yards per game at just shy of 100. That season, he and Rodgers also set the team record for most completions together. He followed that up with another first-team all-pro season in 2021 in a year when he set the Packers' single-season receptions record for the second straight season and, with Rodgers, set the record for most touchdown connections in team history. Rodgers won league MVP honors both seasons, though, putting the national attention on the quarterback.

Davante Adams' trade to Raiders allows him to forge his own path away from Aaron Rodgers

So, just as he was creating a Hall of Fame-type of career in Green Bay, Adams was ready for a new start in 2022. The Packers granted his desire to play with his college teammate, quarterback Derek Carr, in Las Vegas, when they traded him.

Despite the Raiders struggling to a 6-11 season and Carr eventually being benched, Adams earned his third straight all-pro honor after catching an NFL-leading 14 touchdowns. His 1,516 yards were the third-highest in the league.

He also showed his durability by playing in every game for the second straight season.

Davante Adams says people now know 'he didn't need Aaron Rodgers'

Adams told Fader that "(last) season meant a lot" since his play was no longer tied to Rodgers.

Adams and Rodgers have been close for years and they still are — the quarterback and receiver often publicly praise each other and just attended the Kentucky Derby together — but he knows the 2023 season will help change the storylines around him.

"Aaron’s a hell of a quarterback," Adams said, but he reinforced in his interview with Fader that "I’ve already proved it throughout the course of a season, played every game, and put together a résumé that says I do not need …”

“You can erase all the numbers. You can just write in: He didn't need Aaron Rodgers."

Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari, who was teammates with Adams for all eight years, commended Adams on Twitter Tuesday night.

"You didn’t have to leave me to prove this," Bakhtiari wrote. "I believed you. But glad you silenced any doubt your way."

Packers will face Davante Adams and the Raiders in 2023 season

The 30-year-old Adams, a former second-round pick from Fresno State, is entering the second of a five-year contract worth $140 million with the Raiders.

With Carr now in New Orleans, Adams will get to show his dynamic playmaking skills with another new quarterback this season. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo signed with the Raiders in the offseason.

The Packers play Adams and the Raiders Week 5 on Oct. 9 in Las Vegas on "Monday Night Football."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Davante Adams says 2022 season shows 'he didn't need Aaron Rodgers'