The final days of Davante Adams’s time with the Raiders have quite possibly arrived.
Three days ago, Adams was healthy. Then, at the end of Thursday’s practice, he reportedly “pulled up lame” and “grabbed his hamstring.”
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Adams is now considered to be “week-to-week.” Five weeks and two days from the trade deadline.
Adams has bristled at recent suggestions of a potential trade. However, it was clear from his in-game 2023 comments that made it to the final cut of the Receiver series that he was beside himself a year ago. It seemed that someone (presumably, new coach Antonio Pierce) persuaded Adams to give the team a clean slate and that, if the season goes sideways, he’ll be traded.
Last weekend’s embarrassing loss to the Panthers becomes a clear sign that things are about to go sideways in Vegas. Pierce’s post-game comments about players making “business decisions” raised plenty of eyebrows, since business decisions usually aren’t made in Week 3.
Then, Pierce considered switching from Gardner Minshew at quarterback to Aidan O’Connell, after removing Minshew for O’Connell during last week’s debacle.
Under his contract, Adams’s pay rockets to $35.64 million next year. That same amount for 2025 and 2026 was aimed at pumping the APY of a three-year, $22.9 million deal signed when he was traded by the Packers all the way up to $28 million.
As it stands, Adams (who is making only $16.89 million this year) is underpaid on a team that is underperforming. And it will likely be underperforming even more, without Adams on the field.
Unless they can turn it around without him, why come back before the trade deadline? And given that this will be his last year with the Raiders under his current deal, why shouldn’t the Raiders send him to a contender (like the Jets) on or before November 5?
