Rams WR Davante Adams Sends 6-Word Message to Pro Bowl QB

Los Angeles Rams star Davante Adams has touted his history of playing with good quarterbacks, most recently Aaron Rodgers and, now, Matthew Stafford.

However, Adams’ tightest bond is arguably with his former college teammate, Derek Carr. The now-former New Orleans Saints QB began his career with the Las Vegas Raiders, and the two spent the 2022 season as teammates.

Adams sent Carr a message following news of the QB’s decision to retire.

“Happy retirement brudda!” Adams said to Carr in an Instagram story on May 10, featuring the duo from their Fresno State days. “Rest that arm!!”

Carr’s retirement was a matter of health. Medical scans revealed a torn labrum and “significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff,” the team announced. While surgery was an option, it could have cost Carr the 2025 season.

He was also not guaranteed to regain his typical strength, function, or mobility.

“Upon reflection of prayer, and in discussion with Heather, I’ve decided to retire from the National Football League,” Carr said, per the Saints in a post on X on May 10. “For more than 11 years, we have been incredibly blessed, and we are forever grateful and humbled by this experience. It’s difficult to find the right words to express our thanks to all the teammates, coaches, management, ownership, team officials and especially the fans who made this journey so special. Your unwavering support has meant the world to us.”

Count the Rams star, Adams, among those supporters.

Davante Adams Thrived With Derek Carr

Their lone season together is but a footnote on their respective careers, with both players lasting in the NFL for more than a decade. Still, their college chemistry translated once they shared an NFL field.

Adams saw a career-high 180 targets, which led to 1,516 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns in 2022, both of which are the second-best marks of his career.

The duo had long dreamt of playing together, so Adams took Carr’s trade in 2023 hard.

Notably, that 2022 campaign was statistically one of Carr’s worst. The four-time Pro Bowler completed the second-lowest percentage of his passes (60.8%) for his fourth-fewest yards and highest (bad) interception rate of his career.

The Raiders were 6-9 with Carr under center, his third-worst record as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Las Vegas traded Carr to New Orleans in 2023, while Adams lasted one more season.

He, too, would receive a trade, though, reuniting with Rodgers, his first NFL QB, on the New York Jets in 2024. After one failed season, both former Green Bay Packers legends secured their release this offseason.

Adams has found a home with the Rams. Rodgers, who was linked to the Rams at one point during the offseason, remains in limbo in free agency.

Davante Adams’ Track Record Could Be Red Flag for Rams

For all of the excitement around Adams’ arrival to the Rams, his last two stops have not lived up to expectations beyond his production. The Jets and Raiders both struggled with him, and the Packers have made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

The Rams are looking to make the postseason for a third consecutive season and a fourth time with Stafford at the helm.

Adams figures to help those efforts, and Stafford appears excited about the partnership.

Still, the Rams are fortunate to have the playmakers and scheme to support Adams, rather than a setup in which he must be the savior or force-fed targets, as was the case in Las Vegas and New York.