LOS ANGELES — When Davante Adams planned a trip to Japan with friends for early March, he couldn’t have known how much his circumstances would have changed. That the Jets would release him, and for the first time in his career, the All-Pro receiver would be a free agent.

Certainly he could not have guessed the number of phone calls he would receive from Rams head coach Sean McVay, reaching out from across the Pacific Ocean to recruit him to Los Angeles.

“I thought he was out there too just based off of I was talking to him more than I was talking to my wife,” Adams joked Thursday.

Wearing a Dodgers hat after agreeing to a two-year contract Sunday, Adams was introduced as a member of the Rams at the team’s practice facility in Woodland Hills. It all came together quickly for Adams, who just arrived from Japan earlier this week. But McVay’s aggressive recruiting approach made it hard for Adams to slow-play the opportunity.

Adams had met the coach at the Kentucky Derby in 2019, when McVay expressed his admiration for the receiver’s game and the hope that the pair could team up at some point down the line. Firmly under contract with the Green Bay Packers at the time, Adams didn’t think too much about the compliment. As soon as Adams hit the open market this month, though, McVay wasted little time.

In addition to the numerous phone calls, McVay sent Adams two highlight tapes — the first seven minutes long, the second two minutes — narrating what he liked about the receiver’s game.

“It was kind of Jon Gruden-esque,” Adams said. “It just shows how much ball means to him, how much of a priority I was for me and the rest of the guys here. … When you have that from a coach and you’re on the free market and you don’t see it from anybody else to that level, it means a lot.”

It wasn’t just McVay. Players reached out, too, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, to express their excitement at the possibility of teaming up. Adams had admired Stafford from across the NFC North when the former was in Green Bay and the latter with Detroit. Adams had respected how Stafford made sure to feed the ball to Calvin Johnson in the final week of the 2012 season to help him break Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving record, and appreciated Stafford’s approach to the game.

“He don’t make it any harder than it needs to be out there. He’s simple,” Adams said. “I don’t know if he was quite as eager as Sean was, but it’s still a good feeling knowing the quarterback wants you to be there, too.”

Adams is excited to pair with a young, rising wide receiver in Puka Nacua, who changed his jersey number from No. 17 to No. 12 this week, fueling speculation that the change was to accommodate Adams, who has worn No. 17 throughout his career.

But Adams said he never spoke with Nacua about the number, his understanding was that Nacua had been planning on making the change prior to Adams’ arrival. But Adams said he has been impressed with Nacua since his record-breaking rookie year.

“Stuff like that doesn’t happen on accident. He’s got the God-given, he’s got the amazing, electric personality,” Adams said. “He’s smiling every time I see him, every time I talk to him it’s crying faces or LOLs so you know that he’s a happy dude.”

The Rams being the most aggressive franchise in his free agency lined up with what Adams was looking for in a team, potentially on which he could finish his career. With his wife, Devanne, and their son standing near the podium, the East Palo Alto native and Fresno State grad spoke about his excitement to return to California. And, after missing out on the postseason since leaving the Packers in 2022, the opportunity to play for a team coming off its second straight playoff appearance.

“I’m a real simple dude. My family and friends mean a lot to me. So being able to have them have easy access to me out here is a good feeling for me, just knowing that I get to kind of have that support, keep it real tight and stay close to family,” Adams said. “And obviously like I said, being a part of a great franchise and a great team that made a great push last year. I’m just here to be another piece to hopefully get them over the hump.”

That was certainly part of McVay’s visions as he made those transpacific phone calls. “He certainly made sure it did not slip away,” Adams said. “It was something that drew me even closer to the Rams, knowing how much I was wanted.”