HENDERSON, Nev. — Even before he became totally disillusioned with the Las Vegas Raiders, it seemed like Davante Adams was always talking about his old friend Aaron Rodgers. The receiver had come to the Raiders in March 2022 to be reunited with another former quarterback of his, but when Derek Carr was released after one year, Adams was never happy with the quarterbacks the franchise brought in.
Adams said in July that “I like to think it’s a fresh slate” with the Raiders, but even the hedge in that statement spoke volumes. The Raiders moved on from yet another star player with the trade of Adams to Rodgers’ New York Jets on Tuesday, but we have been heading in his direction for a while.
What happened and where does this leave the Raiders?
In the end, Adams was louder off the field than on — two weeks ago, he requested a trade and then went on Kay Adams’ “Up & Adams” show to point the finger at coach Antonio Pierce. The lasting image of his days in Las Vegas won’t be his game-winning overtime catch against the Denver Broncos in 2022. Or his leaning, “Smooth Criminal” toe-tapper earlier this season against the Baltimore Ravens. It will be of him slamming his helmet to the turf in a nationally televised loss to the Detroit Lions last year. Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels were fired the next day.
And Adams was essentially gone as well. The Raiders weren’t winning enough for him, and more importantly, the team never addressed the quarterback position to his liking after releasing Carr. He might blame Ziegler and McDaniels more for signing an injured and off-target Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023 than for their falling out with Carr.
The Jets tried to trade for Adams after that Lions game, which was the night before the trade deadline, but the Raiders turned down what was a much bigger return than this year’s offer, according to league sources. Pierce went on to reinvigorate the team in nine games as the interim head coach, gained the public support of the players — including Adams — and got the permanent job this offseason. Ironically, two of the three players owner Mark Davis leaned on when deciding on Pierce — Adams, Josh Jacobs and Maxx Crosby — are now gone.
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Adams was intrigued by the idea of the Raiders drafting a quarterback last spring, but the top three teams wouldn’t trade down as Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye went off the board. The Raiders didn’t have enough interest in the other first-round QBs, and J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix were all gone in the first 12 picks anyway before general manager Tom Telesco selected tight end Brock Bowers at No. 13.
Adams missed a chunk of training camp for the birth of his son and was never in on free-agent quarterback signing Gardner Minshew II. The fact that he called a meeting and told Pierce he wanted out on a Victory Monday, when the Raiders were 2-2 after beating the Cleveland Browns, shows that he was never really in this season. The Raiders benched Minshew for Aidan O’Connell last week, and some thought Adams might come back and play for the Raiders because the trade market was quiet and he preferred O’Connell over Minshew. That was laughable. Adams’ eyes were already elsewhere.
The @AaronRodgers12 and @tae15adams reunion has been a long time coming. ❤️
(via @netflix) pic.twitter.com/XVaURlMDQO
— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2024
The Raiders didn’t get their asking price, but they were able to free up significant cap space. And, just as importantly, they get to move on from a situation that turned messy.
“It’s part of this life in football,” Davis said Tuesday after joking that the Raiders traded Adams for (new minority owner) Tom Brady and a third-round pick. “Players come and go. If things don’t work out, they don’t work out. Tom Telesco did a good job (Tuesday) of making sure that we move forward in the future with as little distraction as possible.”
Losing Adams won’t help the Raiders recover from their 2-4 start, but there was never any turning back with Adams once he asked out. And it wasn’t like the offense was great with him — take out the second half when Minshew got hot against the Ravens, and the Raiders scored all of 38 points in the other five halves in which Adams played.
“We’re not happy right now,” Davis said. “We’re not performing like we’d like to, but the season’s young and we’ll see what we can put together.”
The Raiders were holding out for a second-round pick, and Davis didn’t want to pay off any more of Adams’ $11.6 million in remaining salary. So the Raiders settled for a conditional third-round pick. (Adams either has to be named a first- or second-team All-Pro, or the Jets have to make the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl with him on the active roster for the pick to be upgraded to a second-rounder).
Davis said he consults with the GM and coach but ultimately leaves decisions up to them. The decision not to pay down Adams’ base salary, however, would rest with Davis given he’d have to cut the check to do so.
“I can’t really get into discussing the parts of the trade,” Davis said when asked why the Raiders didn’t go that route.
The Raiders saved $11.6 million in immediate cap space by trading Adams, but more importantly, they freed up $28.4 million in cap space for 2025 and are projected to have $108 million available, fifth most in the NFL according to Spotrac. And they should have plenty of draft capital to trade up for a quarterback, as they now have eight picks — four in the first three rounds — plus two expected compensatory picks due to the departures of Amik Robertson and Jermaine Eluemunor (Telesco not making a lot of free-agent moves last offseason makes more sense now).
Telesco is new here, so the fact that Adams joins the list of Randy Moss, Richard Seymour (another new minority owner) and Carson Palmer as players the Raiders traded first-round picks to acquire and never won with is lost on him. Same with the fact that the Raiders now have nothing to show for having seven first-round picks from 2019 to 2022. The Raiders were never going to restructure Adams’ deal for next year (he is due to make $36 million in salary), so they were likely going to trade him closer to the trade deadline anyway.
Telesco did take a shot at trying to win this year by adding Christian Wilkins to beef up the defense, but the running game has been terrible, Minshew was erratic and Adams pulled the plug after just four games. And you can’t get too mad at him. He turns 32 in two months, the Raiders did not deliver on what they promised him and there is no question that Rodgers and the Jets are a lot better than O’Connell and the Raiders.
As for the Raiders, are they officially in rebuilding mode? Rumors have speculated about them potentially trading Crosby as well, but Davis made it clear they’re not going that far.
“It’s unfortunate today, but there’s so much outside chatter that is not true,” Davis said. “It’s not coming from any sources. It’s not coming from anything. My basic thing is never to answer all that stuff because, otherwise, you get trapped in this black hole. It’s just not happening.”
Even if the Raiders were tanking, they would never say that or else Crosby might destroy some offices at the team facility. But they have enough injuries on defense that they can take the long view while still trying to win. Back when Adams landed with the Raiders, Davis thought it was a move that would finally make the franchise a contender again. That vision never came to fruition, and now Davis and the Raiders are left searching for direction once again. He remains confident in the Telesco-Pierce regime.
“They have a vision and I think they’re attacking it,” Davis said. “It’s not easy to do overnight.”
The Raiders will likely get an inspired effort this weekend against the Los Angeles Rams, as they always draw well in Southern California. And Pierce will surely tell his team it is closer and more dangerous now that all the players really want to wear Silver and Black.
“He’s young as a head coach. He’s learning how to be a head coach,” Davis said. “He’s surrounded himself with a lot of good people. He’s just got to grow into the job. It’s his first year, really. What he did last year was phenomenal. … We’ll be OK.”
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(Top illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photos of Davante Adams and Antonio Pierce: Michael Owens and Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
