Davante Adams won’t play on franchise tag in 2022 NFL season

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Davante Adams has informed the Green Bay Packers that he won’t play on the franchise tag in the 2022 NFL season. The team applied the franchise tag to their star wideout last week, which would pay him $18.4 million in a one-year, fully-guaranteed deal. He’s looking to have a long-term deal in place before stepping back on the field, and by Rapoport’s notes, the two aren’t close to agreeing to terms on a deal.

If neither party can make a deal, it could be a massive loss for Green Bay. Adams was by far the most productive wideout on the roster by a significant margin and one of the best in the NFL as a whole. He’s gone over 1,000 yards each of the last two campaigns and three times in the last four years, with the only time he failed to do it he didn’t play an entire season. Last season he had a career-high 1,553 yards and added 11 more touchdowns.

While Adams was projected to be on the franchise tag, the Packers were slated to be nearly $50 million over the salary cap, which is by far the worst salary cap situation in the NFL. So the team will either have to cut a lot of room around Adams on the roster to be able to afford him or send him off to another team to help alleviate their cap space.