The Los Angeles Rams raised some eyebrows when they gave Davante Adams a two-year, $44 million contract this offseason – not because he lacks talent, but because he’s 32 years old. Receivers on the wrong side of 30 tend to see their production decline pretty significantly but the Rams are confident Adams will continue being one of the top playmakers in football for them.
Andrew Whitworth has visited some of the Rams’ practices this offseason and what he’s seen from Adams has been impressive. Adams has still shown the ability to separate and get off the line with excellent releases, which is why Whitworth has no concerns about his age.
He thinks Adams still looks like “one of the best receivers in the NFL.”
“When you look at Davante and Stafford, I think it’s going to be something where you look at his ability – I’ve been to a couple OTAs – to just separate and get off the line and just watch how good this guy still is at his age,” Whitworth said on the “Rich Eisen Show” Thursday. “I’m not worried about what his number of days he’s been alive is because this dude looks like one of the best receivers in the NFL still. He’s still that kind of talent. Talking to him personally, that means a lot to him. He wants to be one of the best receivers in the league every single year. he doesn’t want to be playing if anybody thinks he’s a liability or he’s not that. He’s passionate to prove he’s still that guy and I think Stafford, just by his demeanor and happiness, is pretty happy to see him out on the football field.”
Though the Rams signed Adams before they cut Cooper Kupp, they had already planned to move on from the former Super Bowl MVP so they effectively replaced him with Adams. Puka Nacua will still probably be the No. 1 option on offense, but Adams is viewed by many as an upgrade over Kupp.
Whitworth didn’t flat-out say that, which isn’t surprising considering he’s good friends with Kupp, but he does think the Rams offense will be “different” with Adams in the picture. Adams is a better one-on-one weapon and wins as an isolated X-receiver on the left side, something the Rams had been lacking previously.
“Obviously, Cooper Kupp was an unbelievable player and those situations anytime in the end are tough for an organization and as a whole, not just the players, everybody in that building that Cooper had a chance to touch,” Whitworth said. “But this team will be different with Davante because now you’re starting to see a team where there’s a lot of different ways they can beat you because Davante’s just a different player than Coop was in that sense. Not about how good he was, but a different situational guy, a one-on-one nightmare. I think it really puts this team in a (position) where they can run it, they can throw it, they can do stuff with Puka and really focus on him and when they get in those situations on third down and you want a one-on-one isolation guy, Davante Adams can win.”
Stafford and Adams have been building chemistry all offseason already and that’ll continue in training camp next month. Stafford has a history of helping receivers put up big numbers in their first season together and Adams could be the next beneficiary in 2025.