49ers GM Denies Using Term That Offended Davante Adams During Free Agency Talks

Adams 'entertained' San Francisco in free agency before signing with the Rams.

Former New York Jets wide receiver Davante Adams. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Before signing with the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, Davante Adams had multiple teams interested in him, including the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers were one of the teams that had reached out to Adams's agent, and Adams was even entertaining the possibility of joining the club.

Ultimately, any potential interest Adams had in going to the 49ers dwindled when he was offended by the team telling his agent they were looking to pay him "wholesale" value.

“I was entertaining the Niners,” Adams told The Athletic's Adam Silver, “but they were like, ‘We’re paying wholesale. We ain’t paying retail.’ I didn’t talk to them, but that’s what my agent told me—like five times, that quote. And I was like, ‘O.K., well, I’m not a wholesale-type dude.’”

While speaking to reporters on Tuesday after Adams's comments were published, 49ers general manager John Lynch said he did not use that term to Adams's agent.

“I saw that quote and it said his agent had told him that," Lynch said. "That wasn’t me. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for Davante. That didn’t line up. He's on a divisional rival, we're gonna have our work cut out covering him and playing against him. He's a really good player. If there was any disrespect taken, none was intended."

“I saw that quote. That wasn’t me. I’ve always had a great deal of respect for Davante. That didn’t line up… If there was any disrespect taken, none was intended.”

John Lynch on Davante Adams comments regarding the 49ers free agency pitch. pic.twitter.com/cgcSwIaQuy

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) April 22, 2025

Lynch indicated that it wasn't 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan who told Adams's agent that either, saying that Shanahan doesn't speak with player's agents.

It is possible that someone in the 49ers organization other than Lynch or Shanahan made those comments to Adams's agent. It's also possible that the message from the 49ers got twisted from when it was relayed between the 49ers to Adams's agent and then to Adams.

Regardless of how talks went with the 49ers and his agent, Adams ended up signing a two-year, $46 million deal with the Rams, and seems excited about his new team.

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