Free agency is upon us, and it didn’t take long for the top wide receiver on the market to find a new home. On Sunday night, Davante Adams signed a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams.
In what could be Adams’ final two years as a relevant fantasy football player, let’s discuss the ramifications of the future Hall of Famer joining Matthew Stafford and the Rams.
Fantasy Impact of Davante Adams Signing with the Rams
Adams will not be following Aaron Rodgers to his next destination.
With the Rams recently extending Stafford’s contract, it appears Adams will close out his career without his former quarterback.
Six-time Pro-Bowl WR Davante Adams is signing a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams, per source.
Adams arrives at a time the Rams are preparing to move on from standout WR Cooper Kupp.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2025
This is great news for the fantasy value of the wide receivers on whichever team Rodgers signs with. As we saw last season, Rodgers tends to hyper-target Adams, even at the expense of younger, arguably more talented receivers at this stage in their respective careers.
Wherever Rodgers lands, he will likely throw to his best players without any bias toward one individual.
After the Jets cut ties with both Rodgers and Adams, many feared they would reunite elsewhere, like in Seattle or New York, potentially hurting the fantasy value of players like Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Malik Nabers. Fortunately, that scenario has been avoided.
For Adams, joining the Rams is one of the best non-Rodgers landing spots possible. He won’t be the WR1, as that role belongs to Puka Nacua, but he is an upgrade over Cooper Kupp.
This situation is different from when a clearly diminished Allen Robinson joined the Rams in an attempt to revive his career. While Adams is no longer in his prime, he’s far from washed up and can still get open on the outside. His presence complements Nacua, allowing head coach Sean McVay to move Nacua around the formation, preventing defenses from keying in on the talented third-year receiver.
The Rams ran 11-personnel 81% of the time in 2024, the second-highest rate in the league. Stafford is capable of supporting two WR1s—assuming Adams still has WR1 potential. At worst, Adams should be viewed as a mid-range WR2, with top-five upside if something happens to Nacua.
Puka Nacua
On the surface, this might seem like a negative for Nacua’s fantasy value. After all, we want maximum target volume for our fantasy assets. But the Rams were always going to sign or draft someone. They were never going to enter the season with Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington as the top options behind Nacua.
While Adams has always been an alpha target earner, he’s now 32 years old. Plus, he doesn’t have the two years of rapport with Stafford that Nacua does. Even before Stafford arrived in Los Angeles, the McVay system consistently produced two productive wide receivers.
Last season, Nacua saw a 29.9% target share. More importantly, he was targeted on an impressive 43.6% of his routes run. That number will likely decrease with Adams having more left in the tank than Kupp did in 2024, but it won’t prevent Nacua from contending for the overall WR1 spot.
Nacua averaged 17.6 fantasy points per game as a rookie and 18.8 ppg in his second season. If I had to bet, I’d wager Nacua continues to ascend this year, potentially cracking the 20 ppg threshold. If his value dips even slightly due to Adams’ arrival, consider buying low.
Matthew Stafford
Having Adams to throw to is certainly a boost for Stafford’s outlook, but fantasy managers shouldn’t overreact. While Stafford should improve on his career-worst 13.9 ppg from last season, he is a non-mobile quarterback who doesn’t run at all. In his career-best 2021 season, Stafford threw for nearly 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns, yet only finished as QB11.
With Adams and Nacua forming one of the top receiver duos in the league, Stafford will likely top out as a high-end QB2 and a situational streamer in fantasy.
The Rams’ Ancillary Wide Receivers
Given how often the Rams utilize 11-personnel, there will be a third wide receiver on the field regularly. That player will have moments of fantasy relevance, likely emerging as a waiver-wire pickup at various points. However, Stafford is unlikely to sustain three fantasy-relevant wide receivers.
As for Kupp, he’s still on the team for now, but a trade is being discussed. It’s more likely Kupp will be cut, especially after Adams’ signing.
Demarcus Robinson, the team’s WR3 last season, is expected to leave via free agency. In a weak market, Robinson could command more money than the Rams are willing to offer.
In recent years, both Atwell and Whittington have had brief moments of fantasy relevance. Those moments will continue to happen in 2025, but only sporadically.
Atwell and Whittington should be considered moderately interesting handcuffs for fantasy purposes. However, it’s hard to imagine either being more than bench players without an injury to Nacua or Adams. Even in the event of an injury, they could rotate and cannibalize each other’s fantasy value. Neither projects as more than a last-round dart throw in 2025 fantasy drafts.