NFL 2021/2022

Just days after Rodgers signed his blockbuster contract extension to return, Adams, his favorite target, left town in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday.

The Raiders are sending the Packers their first-round pick (No. 22 overall) and second-round pick (No. 53) in this year's draft, sources told Schefter. That gives the Packers four picks in the top 60; they also own picks Nos. 28 and 59.

Four years ago, the star tight end retired from the Dallas Cowboys to join ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” booth to much fanfare. His salary was a reported $4 million — which, back then, was a lot.

Witten, though, was a bust.

He was clumsy. He mispronounced names, misused the telestrator and lit up social media with every gaffe. After one season, he returned to the Cowboys.

ESPN, still wanting to juice its Monday booth, made a big play that offseason for free agent Tony Romo, the former Cowboys quarterback who had become the shiniest new toy in NFL broadcasting, famous for predicting plays. Romo re-signed with CBS rather than jump to ESPN. But he got a raise — a big raise, with his annual salary jumping from around $3 million to something in the neighborhood of a staggering $17 million, in no small part because ESPN bid up the price.

Fast-forward to Wednesday, when ESPN made it official that it had swiped Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, the faces of rival Fox’s NFL coverage, to be its new Monday night pair. Aikman will eclipse Romo’s annual salary, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. Buck could approach $15 million per year, according to a person with knowledge of that deal. (ESPN declined to comment on the terms.)