Davante Adams: Sean McVay's recruitment was "aggressive" in all the right ways

NBC Sports

13-03-2025

Davante Adams' first foray into free agency didn't last long, as he agreed to terms with the Rams over the weekend after being released by the Jets.
Introduced to the Los Angeles media on Thursday, Adams said in his press conference that while multiple teams showed interest, Rams head coach Sean McVay led an aggressive recruitment — despite Adams being in Japan.
'I'll say aggressive, but in all the right ways, though,' Adams said, via transcript from the team. 'He sent me a couple highlight tapes of myself narrating. It was kind of Jon Gruden-esque a little bit. You know how he is with ball so he's breaking down every single clip. The first one was like seven minutes and then he sent another one that was probably another two minutes where he's just going through everything and talking about it. I thought he took that job to be on TV for a minute when I was watching it.
'It just shows how much ball means to him and how much of a priority I was for him and the rest of the guys here because it's not just him making those decisions. When you have that from a coach, you're on the free market and you don't see it from anybody else to that level, it means a lot. It felt like I got ganged up a little bit but as long as I'm here, it doesn't matter.'
Adams added that McVay once told him years ago that it would be nice at some point in Adams' career to team up.
'At that point, you're on a different team so you're like, 'Yeah, it'd be cool one day,'' Adams said. 'But to have it be a real thing now and him to have the opportunity to make sure that it didn't slip away because he certainly made sure it did not slip away, that was something that drew me kind of even closer to the Rams just knowing how much I was wanted.
'Having different players reach out too was another thing that meant a lot to me. It's a good feeling just being wanted and knowing what you still can contribute and bring to the game. It's always good when the other side of the organization views you the same way as you view yourself.'
Quarterback Matthew Stafford was one such player and Adams is excited to play with the person who was throwing to Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson in the receiver's record-breaking season.
'He doesn't make it any harder than it needs to be out there. He's simple,' Adams said. 'Dating back to when 'Megatron' broke the record, I think he needed like 180- something [yards] and he went and got him like 220-something [yards]. … Playing each other over the years and crossing paths a few times, I gathered that he was a pretty nice, straightforward guy. You never hear anything bad in the media or anything like that. Coming out here and getting a chance to meet with him and talk to him a little bit today just kind of solidified it.'
While Adams played only 14 games last year, he still was able to eclipse 1,000 yards for the fifth consecutive season. In three games with the Raiders and 11 games with the Jets, Adams caught 85 passes for 1,063 yards with eight TDs.