Cory's Corner: Teammates Are Worth More Than Money
Davante Adams was traded to Oakland to become the highest-paid receiver. However, catching balls from Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell isn't going to up the resale value.
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.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.
__________________________
Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
__________________________
Comments (29)
stockholder
July 13, 2024 at 06:44 am
what process?
Adams made money.
He GOT Endorsements!
Gute got more than he should have.
And he just couldn't afford Adams.
It was part of "HIS " plan to replace Rodgers.
It's a Business first now.
It's all about the money.
And Gute just paid a safety.
Oppy
July 13, 2024 at 04:03 pm
The Packers roster is healthier than it's been in nearly a decade and you somehow think it's all about money and not football.
Tell me, if it's all about money.. why would Gutekunst let walk arguably the best WR in the league- with so much star power that he "made money" and "GOT Endorsements!"... and then followed it up by trading away arguably the "face of the NFL" in Aaron Rodgers (And undeniably the face of the franchise)?
Having big-name, high-exposure stars on your roster is how teams increase revenue. Explain how Gute's moves are "all about the money". There is literally no rationale in your ramblings. You simply hate Gute for trading away your favorite player.
As a parting thought, I actually agree that Gutekunst has this organization in "business first" mode. What you don't seem to understand is that business is winning football.
EnemyTerritory
July 13, 2024 at 11:04 pm
Can’t agree. If memory serves Adams was offered more money to stay than he took to go. It seemed that the QB drama, ala The Clash, was the driving factor. Last Dance campaign 2023 was far more about two eternal egos than a failure of the GM to have a plan…
joejetson
July 14, 2024 at 08:19 pm
As usual, stockholder's post is gibberish.
He does, however, stumble blindly into one true statement, "It's all about the money".
Of course, his context of that statement is incorrect.
With the NFL Salary Cap, every team is required to stay within the Cap. So while it's "about the money", the REAL question is "how do you allocate the money?"
The best GM's find ways to stay within the cap while still fielding winning teams.
Sometimes that means letting good players leave so you don't weaken your overall talent level.
Bad GM's try desperate measures like bad trades, bloated Free Agent signings, or constant coaching shakeups to try to shortcut to winning. But it rarely works.
Green Bay has stuck with Draft & Develop for the last 30 years, because it works. They also invest in Free Agency, but usually in a calculated, strategic manner.
It's not like Guttkunst and Murphy are hoarding money for themselves like stockholder implies. They just spend it with a long term plan for winning.
Bearmeat
July 13, 2024 at 08:59 am
Corey.
Never tell another man how to live or run his career. It’s his life. It’s his career. It’s his money. Also. Who the hell cares? He’s no longer a Packer and he never will be again. He probably wasn’t getting another big contract at his age no matter who he played with anyway.
I’m happy that Adams got his bag. I’m happy with the job Gute is doing. And I’m happy that Rodgers has been clowned in NYC and hope it co times until he retires or apologizes for acting like a DBag for a decade.
zerotolerance
July 13, 2024 at 09:20 am
So glad Aaron Drama is gone.
dobber
July 13, 2024 at 09:28 am
I just got into my TARDIS and traveled back in time two years...
Leatherhead
July 13, 2024 at 11:17 am
When you compare the state of the organization, and the product on the field, and status of the salary cap, to last summer, or the summer before, or the summer before, it seems to me that we're waaaay ahead of where we've been in quite a few ways.
Oppy
July 13, 2024 at 04:04 pm
Absolutely.
Please explain it to StockHolder.
13TimeChamps
July 13, 2024 at 10:25 am
"Davante Adams left Green Bay because he thought he wasn’t being respected."
That's flat out not true. Adams made it perfectly clear that he had honored his contractual obligations to GB, and after 8 years he wanted to finish his career closer to home. It had nothing to do with being disrespected.
Adams got what he wanted, and well deserved IMO. Green Bay got a nice return. Win/win all around. Why this is being re-hashed, with a false narrative being attached, after 2 years is a waste of time.
dobber
July 13, 2024 at 02:01 pm
Spot on: what his article fails to touch on is the fact that apparently Gute DID have a high-money offer on the table--they were prepared to pay him--and Adams didn't want it. While we want to say that Gute made a brave decision not to pay Adams and to deal instead, the truth is that Adams made it for him and Gute made the best of a rough situation.
ottscay
July 13, 2024 at 11:16 am
Adams (and his family) wanted to be closer to home. Adams wanted to play for his childhood team. And he wanted to play with his college QB and close friend. The latter didn't work out well, but he got the others and 100+ million dollars to enjoy it with - good for him. He honestly earned the right to play where he wants, and the Packers made out well doing the right thing by him, end of story.
Leatherhead
July 13, 2024 at 11:34 am
You can only afford to pay a certain number of people. I think spending big $$ on a WR is unnecessary and unwise, and I thought it was a masterstroke to get a First and a Second for him in trade. He didn't make the difference for the Raiduhs.
Meanwhile, we got Quay Walker and Christian Watson, for a fraction of the cost of keeping Adams.. I'll take that 7 days a week.
honeybadger
July 13, 2024 at 01:43 pm
The thing that fans can't understand, is that it isn't about the player or what he's worth. Sometimes the simple math of paying a player that much money will hurt the team in other areas. There is so much more that goes into the GM's decisions than just paying the guy what he's "worth". Hard decisions have to be made and thank God fans don't run teams!!!
LeotisHarris
July 13, 2024 at 02:56 pm
"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." *wince*
Are you like me? Did you finish reading this installment of The Corner and think "Jesus Christ, couldn't I just have gone blind?" The only things missing from this last-minute-middle -school essay are "Once upon a time" and "The End."
GregC
July 13, 2024 at 06:45 pm
Yeah, this one was painful from start to finish.
TheTaxiSquad
July 13, 2024 at 10:26 pm
No writer here has ever had an original thought. If you’re looking for hard hitting journalism, this is not the place brother.
TheTaxiSquad
July 13, 2024 at 10:29 pm
Most of the posters here write WAY more well thought out and grammatically correct stuff than you’ll find from any of these “journalist”
LeotisHarris
July 14, 2024 at 10:44 am
Disagree, friend. Al's pieces are consistently top notch, Dusty imparts a great deal of content in an enjoyable form, Tim brings energy and well-written perspectives, and Ken is a talented writer with a historical perspective. Maggie and the younger folks are fun to read as well. There's good stuff on CHTV.
Bitternotsour
July 14, 2024 at 12:21 pm
Dusty will be sorely missed. There was also someone here doing cap work that was really top notch, they too appear to be gone. Time for some young unpaid content providers to step up so we can engage one another without restraint and validate sitting in front of a screen on a nice summer day.
Oppy
July 14, 2024 at 08:46 pm
Dusty just posted an article last Wednesday, has something come up that he'll be sorely missed?
Also, TGR (thegreatreynaldo) does the cap articles, and he hasn't been as active lately, but he does comment from time to time and posted up a quicky within the last month relating to cap items. I'm sure he's just busy, hopefully everything is well with him.
Bitternotsour
July 15, 2024 at 09:44 am
from Dusty...
"I wanted to end by thanking you all for the support over the years. This will be my final post here on Cheesehead TV. It has been a great run - starting with an analysis of what Rodgers numbers in Super Bowl XLV could have looked like if not for a bevy of dropped passes - and ending with this in-depth look at Leak."
He's moving over to Acme Packing.
mnbadger
July 14, 2024 at 01:11 pm
Lighten up TS.
This offering isn't framed as Pullitzer prize material. If it got polished up too much it would probably lose eyes.
This is more like talking football over a beer with your bowling team. Some of whom you'd take a bullet for while others you'd more likely push from a bridge.
This format allows us to come and go as we want and chime in when we are fired up about something.
Always best when convo centers solely on the green and gold.
Another round for my teammates please!
GPG!
Spock
July 14, 2024 at 10:06 am
Wish I could give this more thumbs ups! Spot on assessment of this (and frankly most of Corey's) article(s). He could have also finished with, "Then I rolled over and woke up."
CanPackFan
July 13, 2024 at 06:43 pm
Adams wanted the big money and be closer to home, and he got it. We didn't need another huge contract, and we got that. Too bad Murphy had to interfere with thst ridiculous Rodgers contract? Gutes might have put us into even a better situation... I like this younger, hungier team a lot better!
TheTaxiSquad
July 13, 2024 at 10:24 pm
I think one problem, and there are lots of angles to take here, is “friends at work”. That one’s bit me in the ass more than once. In the end, gotta do what’s best for me.
marpag1
July 14, 2024 at 06:12 am
Blah, blah, blather, blather, bullshit, bullshit....
Always cracks me up when clueless "sports writers" (note the quotes) want to tell athletes the right way to make millions of dollars and be happy... as if their opinion mattered.
dark41
July 14, 2024 at 07:50 am
I have to say, with all things being equal and the fact that was was born and raised in Wisconsin, I'd rather play the game I love and live in a warm climate such as Las Vegas. NFL careers are short. My intention would be to retire in my home state. But when offered boocoo bucks to play in Las Vegas, for reasonably up to 10 years or so, I'd happily accept. :)
Oppy
July 14, 2024 at 08:48 pm
*beaucoup bucks. it's a French word.
please take this as it's intended, just informational, not an attack