Cory’s Corner: Teammates Are Worth More Than Money

Sometimes you just have to laugh. 

Davante Adams left Green Bay because he thought he wasn’t being respected. So the Raiders traded first and second round picks and handed Adams a shiny five-year, $140 million deal. 

But what has more value? Money or wins? The easy answer is money of course. But that’s not taking into account future earnings that could potentially be made. 

Consistent winners always make more money away from the field. Tom Brady made nearly $44 million just in endorsements, Patrick Mahomes has already made $25 million and Josh Allen earns $4 million. 

What do you notice right away? Allen’s endorsements pale in comparison to the other two because he hasn’t won anything. Winning puts NFL players on the national stage and makes them household names. 

I thought it was admirable that Adams went to Las Vegas to play alongside his college quarterback Derek Carr. In 2022, Carr had a Pro Bowl season by throwing for 24 touchdowns and 14 picks in Adams’ first season out west. Carr then agreed to a contract with the Saints and Adams was stuck with Aidan O’Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer last year. 

Now Adams is in between a rock and a hard place. He’s getting paid handsomely to perform a job that he will have a tough time living up to. 

The moral of the story is to never take teammates for granted. In the NFL which stands for Not For Long, Adams was too concerned about what others thought about him as a wide receiver. The funny thing is, we all knew that Adams was the best receiver in the league. He didn’t have to go anywhere. 

Now Adams has to hope that Aaron Rodgers can sweet talk the Jets into somehow trading for him. There aren’t many that can swallow a $25.3 million cap hit for a 31-year-old receiver. Then again, Adams doubled down in April by saying, “If I wanted to be gone, I’d be gone by now.”

That’s quite the debacle. So, there are life rafts available for Adams to get to safety, but he is willing to stay planted aboard the USS Jets with a large hole in the hull. 

Which is what makes the Packers so unique. There were so many Packers fans upset when Green Bay traded Adams away. They didn’t think Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst knew what he was doing, even though he did quite well in the trade. 

Funny thing is, by trading away the game’s best wideout, the team ended up getting reset and got even better. There are so many wide receivers that need attention that no team can double anyone. And since they are all so young, they are still very hungry and playing for their next big pay day. 

Of course, one of those wideouts might be traded away or just sign with another team, but it always comes back to the players. Don’t ever put money over players. Because players will ultimately fetch another player a fat contract down the road. 

They just have to be willing to put aside the feelings of disrespect now and be patient. Nobody wants to hear this but — trust the process.