Around The Trade Block: Davante Adams

Raiders WR Davante Adams is no stranger to trade speculation over the past few years. After being dealt by the Packers in a 2022 blockbuster to the Raiders, Adams’ name has come up in the rumor mill several times over the past two years. The release of Netflix’s Receiver documentary sparked a whole new wave of speculation in the last week or so before teams reported back to training camp — so much that Adams’ agents made the rare step of publicly addressing the trade talk and released a statement denouncing the rumors. 

Statement from Davante Adams’ agents Kenny Chapman and Frank Bauer regarding the recent trade talk surrounding their client: “This is baseless, unfounded speculation and Davante is expected to be with the Raiders as there has been absolutely no trade talk – period.” pic.twitter.com/wwJ8AOtHEt

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 16, 2024

Adams has also been careful to reiterate his commitment to Las Vegas in his interviews this offseason. Asked about Packers RB Josh Jacobs and Jets QB Aaron Rodgers trying to recruit him in an interview with Kay Adams, Adams said multiple times “I’m a Raider.” 

“I told [Jacobs] you go ahead and hold it down. I’m gonna hold it down over here. I don’t think I’ll be coming back over there. Never know what’s gonna happen. If they ship me off, there’s not much I can do about it, but I’m a Raider. So nobody got to worry about that.”

“He’s in the ear, that’s for sure,” Adams added when asked about Rodgers. “But it’s not as easy. Obviously, we can get together and talk about the old times and the potential of doing this and that, but like I said, I’m a Raider and he knows that.”

“I’m actively on the Raiders,” Adams said in another interview with Shannon Sharpe. “What do I look like sitting here talking to other people about being on another team? And that’s how I still feel about it right now. I’m locked in with the Raiders, and I really feel good about this team, and as far as I know they feel good about me. If that ever changes, if that got to a point where they weren’t feeling the same way, I ain’t done playing, so obviously we would figure out whatever we needed to figure out.”

But there are two things worth pointing out. The first is that Adams was careful to note in both interviews he doesn’t completely control his future — the Raiders do. Adams doesn’t have a no-trade clause and if the Raiders change their minds after rebuffing trade interest in Adams the past few years, he can’t necessarily stop them from trading him. 

The second is that in other interviews and sound bytes captured from the Netflix show, Adams has talked about the possibility of changing his buy-in with Las Vegas. He told Kay Adams that he and other players threatened to leave Las Vegas if owner Mark Davis didn’t promote interim HC Antonio Pierce last year, and he said in one of the interview clips in Receiver that a quarterback change during the season last year was one of the things that was needed to keep him a Raider. 

Add it all up, and while a trade involving Adams might not be likely at some point in the coming months, it’s certainly not impossible. 

Adams’ Dilemma

Receiver didn’t break much news about Adams’ frustrations with the Raiders last year. It was obvious from his venting on the sideline and some of his frank answers in post-game press conferences that the struggles of the 2023 season wore on Adams. But the show did provide more depth and peeled back the curtain. It highlighted the tension between Adams being where he wanted to be but not reaching his goals for success, both on an individual and team level. 

Adams left Green Bay and ended up with the Raiders for a few reasons. The contract was a big one, but by the end of his time with the Packers, Adams was looking for a move out west closer to family and for a quarterback situation that felt more stable. Las Vegas and a chance to reunite with Adams’ college QB Derek Carr seemed to check all the boxes. 

Instead, it’s been shifting sands for Adams after years of stability with the Packers. Carr lasted just a year in Vegas before HC Josh McDaniels decided he didn’t fit his system, jettisoning him for Jimmy Garoppolo. Both McDaniels and Garoppolo were on the way out by the midpoint of the 2023 season, and while Pierce is far more popular with the players, Adams is set to catch passes from Aidan O’Connell and/or Gardner Minshew in 2024. That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence that things will be less frustrating for Adams than his first two seasons. 

Adams wants a lot of things. He wants to win and win big. The biggest thing missing from the veteran’s illustrious career so far is a Super Bowl ring, and he knows he’s running out of time as he gets deeper into his 30s. He wants to finish the remaining years of his career closer to California where his family can see him play after years of playing most of his games in Wisconsin. Like any elite receiver, he wants the ball in his hands. He made waves last year when he criticized his lack of involvement in the offense coming off two straight wins.

“When you’re a player like me, mentally my benchmark is not wins and losses, it’s greatness. So when I go out there, I expect to have that ability to put that on the table and have an influence on the game… I came here to win and to do it the right way, so if it doesn’t look like it’s supposed to look, then I’m going to be frustrated if I’m not part of that plan.” 

No one, not even millionaire star athletes, gets everything they want. In the coming months, Adams will have to make a decision about what matters the most to him. Right now, Adams says he wants to be in Las Vegas. But it’s fair to question whether being in Las Vegas is the path for Adams to get everything he wants at this stage in his career. 

The Contract

Contract specifics are integral in any trade discussions. Teams are trading for contracts just as much as they’re trading for players, and it’s another piece of the puzzle that has to fit to make a trade work. Contracts speak volumes about how teams view players and what they expect to happen in the future, too. Adams’ deal is no different. 

This upcoming season is the final year before Adams’ salary and his impact on the cap skyrockets. In the final two years of his contract in 2025 and 2026, Adams is due base salaries of $35.64 million each season — more than half the value of the five-year, $140 million extension he signed as a part of the trade to Las Vegas. None of that money is guaranteed and Adams’ cap hit will be over $44 million in both seasons. 

With that high of a cap hit, it’s a virtual guarantee Adams’ contract is addressed in some way. Cutting Adams would save the Raiders $28.4 million in cap space, and if he’s not cut the Raiders figure to bring that cap hit down some other way, either with an extension or some kind of restructure/pay cut. 

If the idea of cutting Adams or forcing him to take a pay cut seems sacrilegious, just remember that’s exactly what the Chargers did with WR Keenan Allen this offseason. Allen was coming off one of the best years of his career with 108 catches, 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns. But he was turning 32 and was due $23 million in 2024, and the Chargers needed to clear cap space. When Allen (rightfully) declined to cut his salary, Los Angeles traded him to the Bears. 

Adams is 31 and his stats last year were eerily similar to Allen, so it’s clear 2024 is a potential inflection point for him and the Raiders. If either side decides it doesn’t make sense to continue the relationship in 2024, that opens the door for a trade. 

This year, Adams is owed $17.4 million total over 17 games, with $16.89 million of that a fully guaranteed base salary. At that figure, there will be a lot of teams who are priced out of the market or will need the Raiders to eat money to facilitate a deal, adding another roadblock to a potential trade coming together. Per Over The Cap, there are only 15 teams right now with enough cap space to swing a trade for Adams. 

That said, every week Adams remains in Las Vegas during the season lessens the bill for an acquiring team by a little over $1 million, and the catalysts for a potential Adams trade won’t arrive until September and October anyway as the Raiders figure out what kind of team they are and the midseason market for receiver help takes shape. Trading for Adams would still be an expensive proposition but teams can find ways to clear cap space when they’re motivated to add an impact player. 

From the Raiders’ side, trading Adams would clear any remaining salary owed to him from their books, assuming they don’t have to eat cash as part of a deal. The rest of the dead money on Adams’ contract won’t hit the Raiders’ book until next offseason, so financially speaking there aren’t any obstacles for the Raiders beyond just finding a taker for Adams’ salary. It comes down to what they think is best for the team. 

To this point, the Raiders have resisted trading Adams despite questions about how a 31-year-old wideout fits their current window. It made sense that McDaniels and former GM Dave Ziegler didn’t want to cut bait on one of their biggest moves, but when those two were ousted the Raiders had opportunities to trade Adams last year before the trade deadline and this offseason. They held tight — and the only explanation that makes sense is that internally the Raiders believe they’re much closer to competing than the prognosticators on the outside. Give anyone in the building truth serum and they’d probably admit quarterback is a big weakness that puts a ceiling on the team, but the Raiders genuinely seem to believe in the talent at other places on the roster, including Adams, DE Maxx Crosby, DT Christian Wilkins, LT Kolton Miller, WR Jakobi Meyers, DE Malcolm Koonce, CB Nate Hobbs, CB Jack Jones and first-round TE Brock Bowers, among others. 

If Las Vegas gets a dose of reality in the first two months of the season and Adams’ future with the Raiders looks uncertain, it would make sense for the team to reconsider its stance. Adams doesn’t have a no-trade clause but he is an influential player and will have some say over his future as well, whether it’s with the Raiders or another team. 

What Could The Raiders Get For Adams In A Trade? 

Las Vegas gave up their first and second-round picks in 2022 to acquire Adams, which was a steep cost. Had they turned around and dealt him a year later, they might have been able to recoup a significant portion of that. Now due to Adams’ age, salary and the Raiders’ lack of leverage with the clear exit ramp in his contract approaching, the Raiders would get dramatically less in return if they looked to trade Adams, and less than you might expect given Adams’ reputation. 

The two deals to look at in terms of precedent were the trades involving other aging star receivers this offseason — Chicago and Allen and Houston and Stefon Diggs. Both receivers were over the age of 30, with Allen about a year older than Diggs. Both had strong seasons of more than 100 catches, around 1,200 yards and seven to eight receiving touchdowns. Both were due around $22-$23 million, with Houston reworking Diggs’ contract to give him a raise and voiding the remaining years on his contract. 

The Bills got a second-round pick back from the Texans in exchange for Diggs, but had to package two fifth-round picks along with the player to get it done. The Bears only had to give up a fourth-round pick to get Allen, which shows the potential low end of Adams’ market. Adams is a star on par with Diggs and held in higher esteem in NFL circles than Allen, so the Raiders could probably talk a team into a third-round pick, maybe even a second if their trade partner was desperate. But getting back anything close to a first-round pick, let alone a first and a second, is a pipe dream. 

Potential Trade Partners

There are a few key boxes that any team looking to trade for Adams would need to check: 

• A need at receiver, with an available role and targets for Adams
• Enough cap space to fit Adams’ contract
• A winning team (and by extension probably a quality quarterback)
• West Coast

Some of these are more for Adams than the Raiders, but realistically a team won’t trade for a player of Adams’ caliber without a signal that he’s going to be on board. Some of these categories might also be more “nice to haves” rather than hard requirements. For instance, the Jets aren’t on the West Coast but the chance to reunite with Rodgers is a perk no other team can offer. There was a telling moment in Receiver when Adams had the chance to catch up with Rodgers when the Raiders played the Jets late in the season, and it was clear Adams felt rejuvenated by the visit from his friend in the middle of a frustrating year. 

If the Jets can figure out the money — which would be a significant challenge since they have less than $6 million in cap space right now, though there are ways they could get more — they make a lot of sense as a potential landing spot for Adams. They’ve gotten most of the steam when it comes to speculation about a potential trade. However, I’m not sure they make the most sense based on the above criteria. 

49ers

There are plenty of wannabe scoop artists on social media, with the vast majority just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping to get lucky. Every so often, though, someone with what appears to be actual connections crops up, which helps lend a little credence even when they come out of left field with a crazy-sounding rumor like the possibility of a 49ers/Raiders trading involving both Adams and disgruntled WR Brandon Aiyuk. 

On the surface, it sounds like Madden-generated nonsense, but the more you look at both sides of that potential deal, the less far-fetched it sounds. The 49ers are in possibly the last season of their Super Bowl window and trading Aiyuk away for picks doesn’t get them any closer to winning a ring. But if San Francisco got Adams — a legitimate top-flight X receiver just like Aiyuk — plus a quality draft pick, well that’s something they’d have to think about. 

Meanwhile, Aiyuk would give the Raiders a younger option at receiver who might fit more with a rebuilding timeline than Adams. Both Adams and Aiyuk would be expensive but Aiyuk is an investment with less potential risk. He also knows Pierce from their shared time together at Arizona State, so there would be buy-in from both sides. 

San Francisco would check all the potential boxes for an Adams trade. They’re among the league leaders in cap space right now and Adams is only marginally more expensive than Aiyuk for this upcoming season. They’d give Adams one of the best possible shots to get a ring that he could hope for, and be on the West Coast to boot. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a likely trade rumor but it has more legs to it than you might think at first glance. 

Chargers

The Chargers are the only other team, in my opinion, that can credibly make a case to check every single box for an Adams trade. They’re another West Coast team with the necessary cap space and a high-level quarterback who gives them a chance to make some noise. Their receiver depth chart is spearheaded by second-rounder Ladd McConkey, Josh Palmer and DJ Chark right now, so Adams would be a massive upgrade. 

There are two significant hangups. The first is most teams don’t like the optics of making high-profile trades inside their division because there’s too much downside if they get the short end of the stick. That’s magnified because new Raiders GM Tom Telesco held the same role with the Chargers for years until being fired this offseason. He’ll be sensitive to the idea of helping out his former team, while the Chargers’ new brass won’t want to set him up for success either. 

The other hangup is the Chargers already moved on from a productive but aging and expensive receiver this offseason by trading Allen to the Bears. Turning around and using those cap savings and a pick to acquire Adams would seem counterintuitive.

Packers

The Packers are young and deep at wide receiver currently with four options who have all flashed talent and carry some significant level of investment. All four are on rookie contracts too. The catch is there’s not necessarily a clear No. 1 target at the moment — which the team will claim is an advantage but only if all four players continue to win their individual matchups. 

Should the young group take a step back, that could clear the runway for an Adams reunion. There’s obviously a lot of familiarity from both sides and Adams would be returning to a system that has sparked some of his most productive seasons. The Packers’ rebuild seemingly lasted just half a season and they once again look like NFL contenders. 

Green Bay has enough cap space to bring back Adams right now but some of that could be eaten up by the new contract for QB Jordan Love. The Packers are unlikely to want to part with much draft capital either, but if it seems like Adams is the missing piece to get them back to the Super Bowl, it could be worth pulling the trigger in a midseason deal.