Davante Adams acknowledges own future could be impacted if Aaron Rodgers departs, remains hopeful

Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams became the latest confidante of Aaron Rodgers' to give an interview since reports surfaced that the star quarterback is unhappy enough with the Packers to not play in 2021, but this time there's a twist: Adams will be a free agent himself after the 2021 season and could choose to play elsewhere if Rodgers isn't back.

The All-Pro receiver, fresh off setting the franchise's single-season record for receptions and matching Sterling Sharpe's 18 touchdowns, spoke Monday on "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio.

"It doesn't mean potentially I'd be gone, but I'd definitely have to do some extra thinking if my guy wasn't here," Adams said when asked how he'd evaluate his future in Green Bay.

"I defend my guys on everything, man," Adams added. "We all know that it's a pretty dense business, a lot that happens, a lot that goes on here. Just like any other job, you want to be happy. Once you've gained that respect, you want to be treated with that kind of respect. I can't speak on specifics, but there are certain things he wants and maybe the club wasn't so excited about living up to right away. That can affect a guy who's done so much for an organization. He's put his body and really laid his life on the line out there for that team and his teammates and everything. I've been behind him 100 percent throughout the whole thing.

"Obviously I'm praying everything works out that we get him back and continue to go out there and do stuff like you see on the screen there, because it's a lot of fun doing that."

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Adams said he had spoken to Rodgers since news first broke on April 29, mere hours before the NFL draft, that the quarterback didn't want to return to Green Bay. In the days since, former teammates John Kuhn and James Jones have given interviews suggesting there's an opportunity for the team and player to mend fences, but still others like Brett Favre have cast doubt on that relationship being repaired.

"That's my guy; that's the only guy I've had (at quarterback)," Adams said. "Except for the 2017 season when he got hurt, that's the only guy that I've played with. We've built up a special connection over the years that have put us both in really good positions in our career, not that he needed me to come along for it because he was already in that spot, but we established a lot together."

A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Adams was named first-team All-Pro in 2020 for the first time in his career.

"A lot is still being figured out, so it's tough for me to get into specifics and speak on it," Adams said. "Honestly, I would love to. I can't wait to get on here and tell you that he's back and we're back doing our thing that we've been doing. But for now, we've got to iron out a few things and hopefully I'll be back on the show, we'll be celebrating."

Follow the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's JR Radcliffe on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Davante Adams' says own Packers future could be tied to Aaron Rodgers