Davante Adams trade: How did we get here?

Initial thought on possible trade of superstar wide receiver

Suddenly, it appears the Las Vegas Raiders and superstar wide receiver Davante Adams may be heading for a divorce.

Following a bizarre social-media flap involving first-year full-time head coach Antonio Pierce, it has been reported Tuesday that the Raiders are now willing to listen to trade offers for Adams and that the player himself now would prefer to be traded.

Here are some thoughts on this stunning development:

That happened fast:

Sure, the Adams trade talk has been around for more than a year. But the Raiders maintained they didn’t want to trade him and Adams himself said he didn’t want to be traded. Even Tuesday morning, he said on his weekly segment on Up and Adams with Kay Adams that hearing constant trade talk was “annoying.” Now, we’re here where the team is willing to trade their key piece and the player now reportedly agrees that he should move on. Yes, things can change, but this is a stunning turn of events.

A trade can come quickly:

When a relationship between a team and a player gets to this point, especially during the season, it is usually best for all involved to quickly resolve it by removing the player from the roster. It will be a distraction until it happens or until the team and Adams decide to move forward together. It’s all the Raiders are going to be asked about this week as they prepare for a big AFC West game at the Denver Broncos on Sunday. A trade may not happen this week, but this situation is fluid and may move quickly and happen much earlier than the November 5 trade deadline.

Pierce’s role:

It would likely be inaccurate to say the Raiders’ head coach is the reason this is blowing up. But he had a role in it as he liked a post on Instagram that speculated whether Adams played his last game as a Raider. Adams seemed confused by it and told Kay Adams he hoped to hear from his coach about Tuesday. Perhaps it was a simple fat-finger moment by Pierce. But it was strange to say the least. One of the reasons why Pierce got the job was because team leaders, Adams included, pushed team owner Mark Davis to promote the interim coach. Pierce has talked about how close he is to this roster. But it’s been a rough couple of weeks. First, there was the “business decisions” comments last week, which Pierce apologized for and then this snafu. These aren’t sure signs that hiring Pierce was a mistake, but this is a rough stretch in the relationship between Pierce and his players that few saw coming this soon.

Trade compensation:

ESPN has reported that the Raiders are looking for a second-round pick plus some in return for Adams. That may not seem like much considering the Raiders are two and half years removed from sending first and second-round picks to the Green Bay Packers for Adams. But he will be 32 in December and he is basically a rental for the rest of the season because his contract will have to be redone. So, there are some things working against the Raiders in terms of return compensation. But the good news for the team is, there will likely be massive interest, so there could be a bidding war.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Building for the future:

Any draft-trade ammo acquired in a deal for Adams would likely be used for the Raiders in their quest to find a quarterback of the future. For a team that has often stated they are in win-now mode, a trade of their best offensive player would indicate otherwise and removing Adams from the offense would hurt whoever the 2025 quarterback will be in addition to hurting current starter Gardner Minshew.

How it would affect locker room?

Adams is a team leader and players want to win now. This was supposed to be a new day for the Raiders under Pierce. If this blows up quickly, it probably won’t be popular among the players. I could imagine fellow star Maxx Crosby not taking kindly to what is happening with Adams.

Offense after Adams:

If Adams is removed from the roster, the Raiders will have to rely on Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker in bigger roles in addition to tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer. The Raiders offense had some nice moments without Adams in Week 4 as they scored 20 points with him out with a hamstring injury. But over the course of a long stretch of the season, playing without Adams probably wouldn’t be great for an offense that has yet to find an identity in the first quarter of the season.

Was this inevitable?

While it has gotten to this point quickly, all the smoke for the past-year plus have been suffocating. Adams showed his frustrations on Netflix’s “Receiver” that documented the 2023 season and premier this summer. It seems Adams has always had to address the subject of his happiness with the Raiders. It just seems like this was going to happen at some point and that point is now.

If this is it, not a great era:

If Adams is, indeed, gone, his trade from Green Bay won’t go down as a good one for the Silver and Black. They gave up a lot for him, paid him a lot and didn’t become a consistent winner and the whole Adams-Derek Carr reunion lasted just a season as the regime that brought in Adams dumped his close friend and college teammate in 2023.

Possible suitors:

There should be a robust market for Adams. Many teams will be interested likely including the New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Commanders, Baltimore Ravens and more. If they weren’t in the same division, the Kansas City Chiefs would likely be the team most connected to Adams. But if the Raiders trade Adams to their division rival as they try to win a third straight Super Bowl title, that would raise many eyebrows.