Davante Adams didn’t exactly get a warm-and-fuzzy welcome to the Jets when he arrived in New York. What should have been a simple jersey-number swap turned into a bizarre locker room negotiation, and the asking price from a rookie wideout was, by Adams’ telling, completely off the rails.
On a recent episode of “Bussin' With The Boys,” Adams broke down the saga over his signature No. 17. He said he showed up with $17,000 cash in his backpack, expecting that would be more than enough to smooth things over with the player wearing the number at the time.
“I got 17,000 cash in my backpack and I'm thinking like this ain't nothing crazy but certainly to give up your number as a rookie, like ain't did [anything] yet,” Adams explained on the podcast. “It was like Week 6 and I think he played four plays at that point. Like you have no attachment to this right now.”
A Jets rookie tried to charge Davante Adams $1 Million for the number 17 😂 pic.twitter.com/zL8WhFoGwY
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) August 4, 2026
Adams said he even went a step further and offered to buy new jerseys for Corley’s entire family. That still wasn’t enough. The rookie’s counter was stunning.
“He said, ‘It's great to have you big bro I can't wait to learn from you, but I'm gonna need a million,'” Adams recalled.
Rather than keep haggling, Adams went over the rookie’s head and took the issue to Jets owner Woody Johnson. Johnson ended the standoff by taking the number away from Corley and giving it to Adams.
The episode is a footnote now, because Adams eventually made his way to the Rams and kept producing. Even with the New York drama in the rearview, he still posted strong numbers during the 2025 season, finishing with 60 catches, 789 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.
Now Adams has left the Jets mess behind and is back to focusing on another playoff push.
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