Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams has it all except the biggest prize

LOS ANGELES – Even in his 12th season, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams still has “it.”

With quickness and strength to beat press coverage at the line of scrimmage, speed to create downfield separation and great hands, Adams remains top-shelf in his line of work. Once again, he reminded the league with a banger: three touchdown receptions in Week 7.

The Rams emerged from their bye week tied for first place in the NFC West – they play host to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday – and Adams is having a blast, re-energized in his new beginning with a team that has the look of a Super Bowl contender. In fact, professionally, Adams seems to have it all.

Well, almost.

Having reached the highest heights that the NFL has to offer for an individual, Adams longs for the ultimate validation of team success: a Super Bowl championship. To put it succinctly, at this stage of Adams’ career, the ring is the thing.

After chasing the most important goal in his sport for so long, Adams could be close to attaining it as a key member of a team that’s built to win now. He’s in a good place to make it happen, and head coach Sean McVay said the Rams acquired the decorated wideout hoping to achieve that outcome.

“He’s a [future] Hall of Fame player,” McVay said. “When you look at the totality of his career, and the truest measurement of performance is consistency, his consistency over so much time epitomizes his greatness while contributing to some great teams.

“Football is the greatest team sport there is, but we only have so much control over these outcomes. Not to put the cart before the horse, we have a lot of work to do, but we obviously know what our goal is as a team – and you get a Davante Adams to help you get there.”

Clearly, Adams is doing his part to help the Rams make progress toward what they seek.

His three touchdown receptions in the Rams’ last game – a 35-7 blowout of the Jacksonville Jaguars in London – brought his season total to six, tied for third in the league. Adams also ranks second on the team with 31 receptions and 431 receiving yards.

Adams’ big performance across the pond was especially timely because a sprained left ankle sidelined star third-year receiver Puka Nacua. No problem for quarterback Matthew Stafford, who merely relied more on the team’s most experienced wideout.

“The guy is as prepared as they come,” Stafford said. “He’s doing everything he can to play at a high level every single week and lead that [receiver] group, which is awesome.”

Both on and off the field, the Rams were confident that Adams would deliver. That’s why McVay was aggressive in pursuing the six-time Pro Bowler and three-time Associated Press first-team All-Pro in free agency following his release from the New York Jets last season.

The Rams decided to release longtime team stalwart Cooper Kupp, opening a wideout spot opposite Nacua. Adams spent most of the 2024 season with the Jets, who acquired him in a trade during the season from the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Jets reunited Adams and quarterback Aaron Rodgers – a four-time AP NFL MVP – who once teamed up to produce spectacular results for the Green Bay Packers. Club decision-makers hoped that, in the closing acts of their careers, the accomplished veterans would lead a long-awaited revival of the moribund franchise.

Of course, the Jets’ plans rarely go as planned. The Jets went 5-12 – failing to qualify for the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season. At 1-7, they’re off to another rousing start this season.

Adams, however, remained productive, totaling 85 receptions for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns. Regardless, because of salary-cap concerns, the Jets released him in March. With arms wide open, the Rams were waiting for him: Adams signed a two-year deal that guarantees him $26 million.

At 32 and paired with the ascending Nacua, who’s only 24, Adams won’t produce the eye-popping statistics he did earlier in his career with the Packers and Raiders (he twice led the league in touchdown receptions, among other things). But that’s just fine with the former second-round pick from Fresno State, who has enough hardware recognizing his individual achievements to fill a man cave or two.

These days, Adams is focused exclusively on the biggest prize.

“The Super Bowl – a championship – for me, that’s the only goal now,” Adams said. “The All-Pros and the Pro Bowls come with doing things right consistently, but that type of stuff is a little easier to come by.

“The team aspect of winning a Super Bowl … it takes so many different pieces. That’s why when you accomplish it, when all those pieces come together, it’s so gratifying. That’s why, for me, that’s really my ultimate goal.”

Stafford can relate.

Among the league’s most gifted passers from the moment the Detroit Lions selected him with the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, Stafford spent the overwhelming majority of his career longing for a Super Bowl title.

Finally, Stafford reached the mountaintop in his first season with the Rams and his 13th season overall: He led the franchise to its second Super Bowl championship with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

Still going strong, Stafford, 37, is focused far more on quarterbacking the Rams to a victory over the visiting Saints this week than on thinking about kicking back in a hammock on a beach somewhere. When he does decide to retire, though, his Super Bowl moment is the perfect coda to his career.

And perhaps he’ll win another with Adams. The Rams are good about not looking ahead – but that’s their unspoken plan.

Having competed against Adams for years when they both played in the NFC North, Stafford is pleased they now break from the same huddle.

“I just appreciate, more and more, every time we get to work together,” Stafford said. “I watched him a bunch of times, early on in my career, when I was in Detroit.

“He was in Green Bay doing what he was doing, and [I] just had a ton of respect and admiration for his game. That hasn’t changed. It’s only grown since he’s been here.”

It’s not lost on Adams that he’s had the good fortune to work with two future Hall of Fame signal-callers. In a short time, he has already learned a lot about his current quarterback.

“Things have been confirmed,” about Stafford, Adams said. “Some things, sure, you have an idea about just from watching guys play. But, obviously, there are a lot of things you just learn more about when you’re on the same team. Being teammates now … his toughness, his arm talent, his ability to make any throw and his poise – you get why he’s the player he is.

“Those are the things you need to be in a huddle with a guy to get. That’s when you get a sense of the energy. You feel how they respond after they make a mistake. After he throws an interception, he’s still cool as hell. It’s not that he doesn’t care about making mistakes. It’s more like he’s just confident enough to know that he’s gonna be able to bounce back.”

Adams is also pleased about his developing relationship with Nacua – arguably the league’s most physical wideout – and the body of work they’re building together.

“He’s a great football player who takes a lot of stress off me, and I do the same for him, so we feed off of each other,” Adams said. “Him and Matthew have a great rapport going on three years now. Having that experience together makes it hell on the defense.

“Obviously, I don’t have as much time with Matthew. But I also bring a lot of my own experience. So having a lot of experience on the field presents issues for our opponents. I’ve seen a lot and done a lot. They’ve done a lot together. We’re just gonna keep pushing that.”

For Adams and the Rams, the climb continues. They know what they’re trying to reach. Until now, Adams has only glimpsed it in his dreams.

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