The Davante Adams era for the Las Vegas Raiders is finally coming to an end. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the wide receiver is getting traded to the New York Jets.
The Raiders will be getting a conditional third-round pick that turns into a second based on performance. This has been a frustrating saga for fans of Las Vegas and it’ll likely only get more frustrating. Adams posted a video on his Instagram Story of his daughter screaming in excitement.
It’s been a rough season for Raiders fans so seeing one of their best players this excited to join a 2-4 Jets team that just lost in Monday Night Football can’t be a great feeling. Regardless, it’s best that the team moved on as this situation was clearly not fixable.
The Raiders also were able to get out of having to pay any of Adams’ remaining contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It’s hard to see how that really helps Las Vegas as they already had a large amount of salary cap space. Not paying off Adams doesn’t really help them unless they’re planning their own big trade to add an expensive player.
However, it doesn’t seem like owner Mark Davis was interested in paying Adams’ salary so this is likely the best the team was going to do.
Is Davante Adams Better off on Jets?
Adams is clearly happy about the move to the Jets. He gets to reunite with his former quarterback Aaron Rodgers along with other former teammates like Allen Lazard. However, it’s difficult to see how this is that much better of a situation than the Raiders.
Rodgers is 26th in the NFL in quarterback rating, which is even lower than Gardner Minshew, who is 24th. The Jets have the same 2-4 record as the Raiders and just recently fired their head coach Robert Saleh. They also changed playcallers to Todd Downing, who Raiders fans will remember for getting fired after one season of calling plays for the team.
Now, the Jets aren’t as injury-ravaged as the Raiders and Rodgers is obviously a better quarterback than what they have. Adding Adams will only make them better. That said, it still seems more likely that the Jets will miss the playoffs than make them at this point in the season.
What’s Next for Raiders?
The Raiders haven’t had Adams for three games already so not much changes. This means that Jakobi Meyers is now the WR1 for the team, but he just missed a game with an injury. Tre Tucker is a good WR3 but couldn’t do anything as the WR1 in Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While Meyers is technically the WR1, tight end Brock Bowers is likely the true No. 1 receiver. He’s leading all tight ends in receiving yards and already looks like a star despite being a rookie.
The Raiders likely aren’t going to be in the playoff mix this year and their focus needs to be on getting the highest draft pick possible. There is talent on this roster if they can just get the right quarterback. They now have an additional draft pick to try and move up in the draft if they need to. At this rate, they might finish with a high enough pick without having to trade up.
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at "The Shop." More about Austin Boyd
