If the San Francisco 49ers want to get younger this offseason, pursuing 32-year-old Davante Adams might not be the ideal strategy. The New York Jets are shopping Adams, but there's little chance that general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan would trade for the veteran receiver, especially given his massive $35.64 million base salary for 2025.
However, if the Jets fail to find a trade partner, they could release Adams, which seems like the most likely scenario. Should that happen, Cam Inman of Bay Area News Group wouldn't mind seeing the 49ers target him as a free agent.
"Davante Adams is fascinating to me because this is a six-time Pro Bowler who's, every year, he's a thousand-yard receiver, Palo Alto High School product," Inman said on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "And the guy, still, he's playing at an elite level, but he's not going to get $37 million from the Niners or anybody else. So the Jets are going to have to release him."
Adams has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in six of the past seven seasons. The only exception came in 2019 when he fell just short with 997 yards after missing four games due to a toe injury.
While Adams is unlikely to offer the 49ers a hometown discount, Inman believes he won't command the kind of money that younger elite receivers might.
"I think it would be a great fit for them to get Davante Adams," Inman continued. "He knows the system, surely, because the Packers ran something similar. The guy, he would be a great outside receiver that they need with [WR Brandon] Aiyuk sidelined for a while. I'd love to see Davante Adams come to the Niners."
Inman also noted that Adams attended the 49ers' local pro day in 2014, even though he didn't participate. He didn't need to, but he showed up anyway, as the 49ers were his local team.
"If you go back through Davante Adams' game logs with the Packers, he roasted the Niners for like 100 yards every game," Inman added.
Adams has played five regular-season games against the 49ers—four with the Green Bay Packers and one with the Las Vegas Raiders. He racked up over 100 receiving yards in all but one of those contests and had seven touchdowns against the 49ers.
"And he had two playoff games that the Packers lost, obviously," Inman said. "But he had big games against them. I would love to see Davante Adams [with the 49ers]."
You can listen to the entire Inman interview below.
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