The Davante Adams era in Las Vegas never made sense for very long. A Raiders team that squeaked into the postseason in 2021 on the back of a winning streak against teams with injured or compromised quarterbacks had an inflated opinion of how close it was to contending. Adams was supposed to be reunited with Derek Carr, his quarterback from his days at Fresno State, but after one year, the Raiders cut Carr and began cycling through replacement-level passers. The Josh McDaniels regime that traded for Adams in 2022 was fired shortly thereafter.
Now, Adams could follow his former coach out the door. Reports on Tuesday suggested the Raiders would consider trading Adams, which would end his tenure with Vegas after a little over two seasons. As a player who turns 32 in December with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell as his options at quarterback, the idea of spending another year in what amounts to football purgatory understandably might not appeal to the veteran wide receiver.
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Where should he head? And what should the Raiders expect in return? Let's get a sense of what the Adams trade market might look like in advance of next month's deadline. First, though, let's answer three pressing questions:
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How good is Adams now? Has he regressed?
How much money is he owed now and in 2025?
What could the Raiders expect to get in return?
Which teams should try to trade for Adams?
Yes. The move to acquire Adams in the first place didn't make much sense for the Raiders, who were coming off a 10-7 season with a 6.9-win pythagorean expectation. It didn't take much self-scouting or analysis to suggest they weren't a star wide receiver away, and given the sheer number of top-100 picks who
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