Davante Adams Might Be Traded Soon, Which Could Be Great for His NFL Future

There are a couple of things we know about Davante Adams. First, when he’s put in the right positions to succeed, he’s still regarded as one of the NFL’s best, and most difficult to cover, receivers in the NFL.

Second, the Las Vegas Raiders are likely to trade Adams sooner than later to evade any more drama, and to move on. The same team that signed Adams to a five-year, $140 million contract March 18, 2022 following a trade with the Green Bay Packers appears primed to kick that can down the road with some major dollars left in the bargain .

It’s not as if the Raiders are flush with weapons outside of Adams (though tight end Brock Bowers looks like a real force), and a trade now would leave the Raiders with dead cap money they’d rather not have. But based on what you hear out there , it seems that the two sides have come to some kind of impasse, and Adams wants out.

There are several obvious trade candidates who have already made inquiries into the Adams situation and what it would take to pry him loose from Las Vegas. The questions we’ll endeavor to answer here are what Adams still has left in the tank, and how he could help any other team in a scheme-agnostic sense.

It’s not as if Adams’ best days are behind him. Last season with the Raiders, and with a quarterback situation that had the receiver questioning his own safety if he tried to catch any more errant passes from Jimmy Garoppolo (who was eventually ousted in favor of fourth-round rookie Aidan O’Connell), Adams had his sixth straight 1,000-yard season, catching 103 passes on 173 targets for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns. Through three games in the 2024 season (he missed last Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns with a hamstring injury), he’s caught 18 passes on 26 targets for 209 yards and a touchdown.

And when you dive deeper into what offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is calling for Adams in his first year designing the Raiders’ passing game, it’s pretty clear that not only can Adams still be a force multiplier in the right system, but that Getsy isn’t always putting Adams in the ideal positions to succeed.

_{Adams can still force geometry to either side on deep passes}

Adams has been one of the NFL’s best for years at running dig routes into easy openings due to his expertise, and that still rings true. During his seasons with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers; Adams’ splits against single-high and two-deep coverage were hilariously skewed on the single-high side, when defenses couldn’t bracket him as easily with a cornerback and a safety. Adams still has the wherewithal to find open holes in zones and beat coverage underneath, and his developed ability to run those 15-yard in-cuts with authority has taken the chasm in splits away. Now, it’s not as easy to limit Adams with this or that coverage.

Adams has caught all of his passes this season from Garoppolo replacement Gardner Minshew, and while Minshew does have some appealing attributes interspersed with some inconsistencies, he’s not the first guy you’d want when asking your quarterback to throw a receiver open on a pinpoint backside go or fade route 20 or more yards downfield. But Adams, who has caught two deep passes (20 or more air yards) on four targets for 59 yards already this season, will help any quarterback out exponentially with route awareness, outstanding technique, and a Cris Carter-level sense of where the sideline is. In an offense with a more adept deep passer, these rare plays could turn into consistent explosives.

_{Adams can be great with pre-snap motion… if it’s at all creative}

This season, Getsy has sent Adams in cross-formation pre-snap motion six times when he was the target. What mystifies me about those plays is that the resulting routes for Adams are either simple flat routes, or quick in-cuts where the Raiders are not at all using Adams’ route technique and ability to scald a defense with displacement. It would be wise for Adams’ next OC to use him as the Miami Dolphins use Tyreek Hill, or how the Kansas City Chiefs have used Rashee Rice, or how the Los Angeles Rams use Tutu Atwell, or how the New Orleans Saints use Rashid Shaheed.

Adams should have far more than 24 air yards on plays where he’s the target out of pre-snap motion. He should be testing defenses upfield, as all those other receivers are.

_{Adams’ next offensive coordinator needs to use him as more than an outlet target}

Getsy has also decided to use Adams as the Raiders’ primary receiver on hitch routes and other quick comebacks, which really doesn’t fit his style. When you watch these plays, it’s where a lot of his forced incompletions come into play. It’s not that Adams is afraid of short-area traffic or defenders bearing down on him on quick passes; the tape shows that he’ll put in the effort. But when you have a Ferrari that still drives like a Ferrari, why would you use that elite sports car to tow your boat to the water? It’s a bit mystifying.

I don’t know whether the schematic schisms are part of Adams’ frustration, but if so, I could certainly understand it.

_{Where is Davante Adams’ best fit?}

Let’s start with the fact that yes, Adams still has a lot in the tank. Especially if he’s utilized as the route chef, technician, and master of get-up speed downfield that he clearly is.

Adams’ obvious prior chemistry with Aaron Rodgers would make the New York Jets an ideal fit, though there are several issues with offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Garrett Wilson, the Jets’ best receiver by far, has already complained that his route tree isn’t what it used to be. When your current alpha receiver is saying publicly that his OC isn’t mixing things up as much as other NFL teams are… well, the Rodgers-Adams chemistry aside, that’s not a great look.

The Dallas Cowboys, with Mike McCarthy’s stodgy route concepts (something with which Adams would be familiar, given his time with McCarthy in Green Bay), might present similar issues, though we’d try to bless McCarthy half a clue when it comes to Adams’ ideal deployment. Then again, perhaps not.

If it’s the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints or Washington Commanders – all teams that have shown more effective offensive creativity this season – the prospects are better.

Wherever he lands, Davante Adams still has what it takes to make any offense better, and we’ll just have to wait and see which offense that is.

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