Davante Adams has worn the jersey No. 17 wherever he has gone in his NFL career, which has spanned stints with the Packers, Raiders, Jets and now in 2025, the Rams. But, as Adams revealed during a recent episode of the Why Is Draymond Green Talking About Football? With Jordan Schultz show, he didn’t always have the easiest time obtaining that jersey number if an incumbent player on the team was wearing it.
In fact, when Adams was dealt to the Jets in October of 2024, he was met with a seven-figure demand after he asked Jets then-rookie receiver Malachi Corley for the jersey.
As Adams explained, he wasn’t going to just take the number from Corley without asking, and he believed he had a fair bargain for the rookie—$17,000 in exchange for the No. 17. Corley proved to be a tough, if overzealous, negotiator.
“So he responds and he said, ‘Hey man, it’s good to have you. Happy to have you on the squad. But I need a million.’” Adams told a stunned Green and Schultz.
Adams, who had not yet met Corley, figured the Jets rookie was joking. But, needing to sort out the jersey number situation before he had media availability the next day, Adams took matters into his own hands—and was met with an audacious reply from Corley.
When Adams noted that the No. 14 jersey was open, he says Corley told him, “14 would look good on you, I think.”
Wow: Davante Adams tells me and @Money23Green the wild story of what he went through trying to get No. 17 last season with the #Jets.
🤯😳🤯 pic.twitter.com/Us07RVfYEV
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 4, 2025
Adams, understandably, was taken aback—and a little miffed—that Corley, whose NFL experienced paled in comparison to his own, had the chutzpah to make such a request.
“…Long story short, I got 17,” Adams continued. “And there was no exchange of money at all once that happened. I went the route I needed to go to make that happen. The money stayed in my pocket because I felt disrespected at the time. I’m laughing about it now because it’s funny now, but at the time I was like, ’14 would look good?’ I’m like, ‘All that? Damn.’”
But after Adams obtained No. 17 without resorting to financial means, Corley seemed to realize where he stood in the Jets’ receiver pecking order.
“After [practice], he came and dapped me up, ‘Good practice, 17.’ I was like, ‘Yeah okay, that sounds about right.'”
Fortunately, Adams had a much easier time getting No. 17 with the Rams. Los Angeles’s Pro Bowl wideout Puka Nacua, after joking he’d ask for $2 million for the jersey, switched to No. 12 given its significance within his family in what appears to have been a smooth transition for both players.
Adams will debut with the Rams against the Texans on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.
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