According to former NFL wide receiver DeSean Jackson, Davante Adams isn’t happy with the Raiders.
“This one’s tough because me and Davante, we’ve talked, and I hate to do it because I don’t want to be the guy that’s ‘Oh, D-Jax said this and said that” but at the end of the day [Davante] isn’t happy,’ Jackson said this week on the The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “You go from Aaron Rodgers, then you come to the Las Vegas Raiders… and it just didn’t quite work out and so now I just don’t think he’s really that happy there.”
Adams hasn’t responded to Jackson’s comments, so it’s not a story that has been easy to run with for those who see Adams every day at practice.
But fans have suspicions that something isn’t quite right between Adams and the Raiders, and Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Capenter delicately addressed the topic on Monday in a question-and-answer segment on his podcast…
“I’m not touching that. I’m not going there,” Hondo said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “All I can go on when talking to you is what Davante has said. To get into speculation would not be journalistic integrity on my part. Someone said it, which has a semblance of relationship with him, so it is noteworthy to report…but until Davante says something, or his representatives, then I don’t believe it’s journalistically integrous for me to discuss it on a podcast. It doesn’t mean I won’t discuss it at another time should things develop…”
Hondo later added that he doesn’t think Jackson’s comments were simply a click bait story…
“[Some] say it’s just click bait. No. I don’t think it’s just click bait when it’s somebody that there is some semblance of a relationship with. But I also don’t think it’s fair for me to address unless I have more concrete reasons to believe either way. I know that he has told me he wants to be a Raider. He is here and I am going to take him at his word.”
Looking ahead, there’s a good chance the rumors around Adams will settle down if the Raiders perform well in the first few weeks of the season. But even if he plays well this year, the Raiders have a complicated decision coming on his contract after the season.
As his deal is currently structured, Adams has a cap number that will jump from $25.35 million this year to more than $44 million next year. Additionally, NFL insider Ari Meirov pointed out last week that Adams has no guaranteed money remaining on his deal after the 2024 season.
“[Davante Adams] is probably the one star player that if the team starts off poorly, we’re going to talk a lot about him in trade rumors,’ Meirov said on the NFL Spotlight podcast. “The reason I say that is not just because he might get frustrated because the quarterback play is not good. When you look at Davante Adams’ contract, he has no more guaranteed after this season.”
“When Davante Adams signed his contract, the last two years there are two inflated non-guaranteed base salaries in there… the chances of him seeing that money in 2025 and 2026 is very unlikely, even though [he] is a very good player,” Meirov continued. “In essence, as long as this contract stays the way it is and they don’t adjust it before the season starts, this could very well be his last season in Vegas, anyway. If this team does start off poorly at the trade deadline in November… I think Davante Adams is going to be a trade candidate.”
