I wouldn’t say it was always a foregone conclusion that Davante Adams would be traded or that he would reunite with Rodgers in New York. But it had been headed that direction for a while now.
Davante joined the Raiders in 2022 with dreams of winning a lot of games with his college QB Derek Carr. And doing with the Raiders of whom he grew up a fan. It was a fairytale reunion.
It was also a deal that was as little as one year and not expected to last past three years. This year being the third year.
Again, that doesn’t mean it was always a done deal that he was out after three years, but it was a high likelihood. And when Derek Carr was cut after just one season together, the likelihood of Adams’ deal not going past three seasons only increased.
But Adams stayed with the team, citing that the main reason he came to the Raiders was because he wanted to be a Raiders, not just to play with his college QB.
That put the door open a crack for the Raiders to do something to keep him. Namely — get him a QB.
That obviously never happened.
There were rumblings the Raiders were thinking they could land Tom Brady. But that fell apart and they ended up with Jimmy Garoppolo instead. But instead of going hard after a QB in April’s draft, they selected Tyree Wilson and waited until the fourth round to select Aidan O’Connell.
We know what happened then. In fact, the entire sports world knows quite well what happened then. At least they know how it went down from Davante Adams’s perspective because it was followed closely in the Netflix series Receiver.
Things were unraveling for Adams in Las Vegas. Here is a potential Hall of Fame wide receiver who doesn’t have a ring and is on the wrong side of 30 feeling like he’s wasting away on a bumbling offense without a franchise QB.
The Raiders could have traded Adams in April. Many thought Adams would want that to happen. But they didn’t. Holding onto him would be wise if you’re, say, selecting a QB high in the draft and want him to have a reliable target.
That didn’t happen either.
The Raiders started winning some games late last season on the strength of their defense. And at 8-9, they slotted at 13th overall. That turned out to be just low enough for them to miss out on all of the draft’s top QB’s.
Six quarterbacks were selected in the first 12 picks. The Raiders really wanted Antonio Pierce’s old college QB Jayden Daniels, but there was no way Washington was trading out of that spot. They wanted him too.
Some, including myself, thought Washington’s Michael Penix would have been a great selection for the Raiders, but the Falcons stunned everyone by taking Penix at nine overall. Then it was JJ McCarthy to the Vikings at ten, Bo Nix to the Broncos at 12, and the Raiders taking the draft’s top tight end.
THAT’s when the writing was on the wall.
This team could have traded up to ensure they got one of these quarterbacks, but they didn’t. Bowers is a great tight end. He’s a building block type of player for a Raiders were punting at the QB position. And Adams is not in a stage of his career to keep waiting around.
There was just no way Adams and this offense was going to see the success with the combo of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell that would keep Adams in a Raiders uniform. Let’s just be real.
It took all of three games and a blowout loss to the winless Panthers for Adams to say he was done. Which pretty much means he was done well before that because, I mean, what was he honestly expecting?
So, now, Adams is a Jet. Just as so many had predicted to the point of it being a foregone conclusion. Including Aaron Rodgers who said of Adams way back in July he “can’t wait to play with him again.”
Well, he did have to wait. But not very long. Training camp and six games into the season and we have reached the inevitable conclusion.
The Raiders had hoped to get a second round pick and more. They got a third round pick that could turn into a second rounder if certain incentives are met.
So, for a first and second round pick, the Raiders got two wasted seasons of Davante Adams and a third round pick. And they only have themselves to blame.