LOS ANGELES — Despite a time difference of 16 hours between California and Japan, where star receiver Davante Adams was vacationing with friends after his March 4 release from the New York Jets, he still felt Sean McVay’s urgency to bring him to Los Angeles.
McVay sent Adams two highlight videos featuring several plays from when Adams was a member of the Packers, Raiders and Jets (particularly the latter two teams as they were Adams’ most recent). The head coach filmed his computer screen with his phone as he went through each play, which were organized into different categories that illustrated how Adams would fit in the offense, what McVay saw as his gifts and how McVay and Adams could schematically adjust depending on how defenders covered him. McVay narrated each play in detailed fashion, spanning about 10 total minutes between the two videos.
Adams had just woken up from a nap when he got the first video, he told The Athletic on Thursday afternoon.
“It wasn’t loaded, I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ I could kind of see what the cover was, but it wouldn’t load all the way. … I’m sitting here like, ‘Is it my Wi-Fi?’ But everything else (was) working fine. Then I looked down at my phone, it said (it was) loaded, and I tapped it and it said ‘seven minutes long‘,” he said. “I’m like, ‘oh my God, what is this?!’
“I hear how it starts, he’s got it blocked off clip by clip. He’s narrating. He’s talking about everything. I’m laughing at the beginning, and then I start watching it. Started to kind of feel it a little bit, I like this energy. I love that he’s unapologetically himself, doesn’t try to be anybody different. He’s all ball. It really aligned with everything I knew about him.”
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Adams recognized the organization of the clips as typical for evaluators who put together cut-up reels for prospective players. But they’re not usually narrated by the head coach — nor are they sent to the player directly. That was when he knew how serious McVay was about signing him.
“It was kind of ‘Jon Gruden-esque’ a little bit, you know how he is with ball,” Adams said, smiling. He met local reporters for the first time Thursday morning at the Rams’ Woodland Hills, Calif., facility shortly after returning from Japan. “He’s breaking down every single clip. … He’s just going through everything, talking about it like he’s — I thought he took that job to be on TV for a minute, when I was watching it! Just shows how much ball means to him, how much of a priority I was for him and the rest of the guys here.”
Adams and McVay first met at the Kentucky Derby in 2019, during which McVay praised the receiver. Yet Adams, a three-time All-Pro who is coming off his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season, wouldn’t become a free agent for the first time in his 11-year career until this spring.
“(For him) to have the opportunity to make sure 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,” he said. “Having different players reach out, too, that 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, or the organization, views you the same way as you view yourself.”
Even on the day Adams’ agent agreed to the Rams’ terms for his two-year and $46 million contract, Adams got two initial phone calls while still in Japan: one from his agent, one from McVay.
“I thought he was out there, too,” Adams quipped, “I was talking to (McVay) more than I was talking to my wife.”
Adams, 32, is from East Palo Alto, Calif., and has family in California.
“Being from California, obviously coming back and being really close to home, having my family in my backyard (and) a lot of friends in the area … Having my support system,” he said. “Because I’m a real simple dude. My family and friends just mean a lot to me. Being able to have them have easy access to me out here (is a) good feeling for me just knowing I get to kind of have that support, keep it real tight and stay close to family.”
But, he added, it was the Rams’ attentiveness that stood out to him among other prospective teams that expressed interest in signing him.
“Definitely the most eager organization to reach out,” he said, “whether it was the understanding of contracts (or the) understanding of my game, and obviously having the opportunity to play with Matthew (Stafford) is a heck of an opportunity. And obviously the rest of the team, too. Being able to be with a contender at this point in my career is something I’ve been waiting for for a while now. Been putting the work in to make it happen. Now we’ve got it, so it’s exciting.”
Sean McVay sent Davante Adams narrated and detailed highlight cut-ups of his game as he was recruiting him to come to LA – about 10 mins worth. Adams said the Rams making it so clear how wanted he was was a factor in his decision. pic.twitter.com/SrBZZvLBCX
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) March 13, 2025
McVay has a reputation as a dedicated recruiter if he has his mind set on a player. The Rams were aggressive in their pursuit of defensive tackle Poona Ford as the legal tampering period began, for example, after pro scouts and coaches identified Ford as a top priority to add to their ascending defensive line.
“Oh, man, he’s a character,” Ford said of McVay in his introductory news conference. “He’s a good coach, you know?”
McVay’s initial recruitment of Stafford is a well-known story by now. The coach and veteran quarterback encountered each other in Cabo San Lucas in 2021 while on separate trips as Stafford was seeking a trade from Detroit, and broke down film over drinks. McVay then convinced owner Stan Kroenke and other top executives to approve the trade, which began the Rams’ Super Bowl run that season.
In late February, an early-morning meeting with Stafford at the team facility set by McVay helped the quarterback and team reach an agreement during an ongoing contract dispute despite Stafford’s financial offers from the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders, should he have decided to play elsewhere.
Even the backup quarterbacks McVay has taken a shine to get an extensive pitch when free agency begins. Jimmy Garoppolo, who league sources said was considered as a possible replacement/bridge quarterback if the Rams couldn’t work things out with Stafford, has heard plenty from the head coach over the past two offseasons. Garoppolo re-signed with the Rams last week on a one-year deal.
“He is a good recruiter, man. He’s a smooth talker (and has) high energy, which I really enjoy,” Garoppolo said, smiling. “Every time I talk to him on the phone I say like 10 words. He’s talking so fast, in a good way though. It’s his high energy. He has a point to make and I love that about him. There’s no BS’ing around.”
(Top photo of Adams: Jourdan Rodrigue / The Athletic)
