The financial implications of a potential Davante Adams trade for the Raiders

The rumors about Davante Adams potentially leaving the Las Vegas Raiders have run rampant over the last couple of years. First, because the wide receiver is clearly on a different timeline than the rest of the roster. And second, because he is entering a decisive (and hard to manage) period of the contract he signed when the Raiders acquired him from the Green Bay Packers in 2022.

Initially, Adams chose the Raiders because he wanted to play with his college quarterback Derek Carr, now long gone. The second reason is still valid, his desire to play closer to his hometown in California (an aspect that doesn’t necessarily preclude a new trade). And Netflix series “Receivers” has shown that Adams was not happy with the quarterback situation — Jimmy Garoppolo is now gone as well, but the starter will be decided in a suboptimal battle between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.

So even though Adams has said he is not unhappy in Las Vegas, the unusual sequence of events since he’s been acquired make his situation unique. The big question, from a team perspective, is how his financial situation affects the decision-making process.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Contract

When the Raiders signed Adams two years ago, the team structured the deal in a way to allow Adams and his representation to sell it to the media as a top contract for receivers on average per year. Officially, it was $28 million per season in new money. But effectively, Adams would receive $22.58 million per year over the first three years of the contract — in 2024, for instance, he's slated to make "only" $17.5 million.

But that also created a long-term issue for the Raiders. The receiver will make $36.25 million in each of the last two years of the contract, in 2025 and 2026, a balloon payment to increase the average without compromising the initial salary cap. None of that is guaranteed, though, which establishes an interesting decision for the team.

They have the option to simply pay that, which is not exactly an absurd number but might not be aligned with the moment the roster is, or try an extension — which can be even more difficult considering the inflated WR market after the Justin Jefferson deal with the Minnesota Vikings.

A release is the least likely scenario at this point, because Davante Adams obviously still has trade value.

If a deal gets done…

The biggest issue for the Raiders is that Davante's cap hit will be $44.1 million in 2025 and 2026. That creates a stress point for the team to make a decision, and it can affect Adams' trade market value.

But for an eventual new team, especially if it's a contender, paying Adams what's left on his contract is a decent compensation — because the Raiders would keep the signing bonus and restructure proration.

So if the Raiders trade Davante Adams before this season, they will have $7.85 million in dead money in 2024 and $15.7 million in 2025, highly manageable numbers.

The acquiring team would pay Adams $17.5 million in 2024, $36.25 million in 2025, and $36.25 million in 2026.

If the new team wants to maximize this season's roster, it would still be possible to restructure Adams' deal adding two void years, getting his 2024 cap hit to a number as low as $4.468 million — that, however, would make his future hits jump to $39.5 million in 2025 and 2026, plus a $6.5 million dead money after the deal expires in 2027.

A potential trade depends pretty much on what Davante Adams wants, and what the Raiders new management thinks of their roster-building process — at first, new general manager Tom Telesco said he has no intention of making a move . That being said, a potential trade is financially feasible, and real contenders can certainly pay what it takes to have a player still at an elite level.

Related: Davante Adams reflects on trade request and talks about Love's performance with the Packers