And the deal has been made.
I had this in the drafts, but I figured to wait until the trade was made. So, the Raiders have shipped out Davante Adams to the Jets in exchange for a conditional 3rd round pick that could be a 2nd rounder. Adams has made it clear that he was unhappy with the situation on the Raiders and wanted out these past couple weeks. He was out with a "hamstring injury". But we all see through that facade that the Raiders were working to ship him out.
Quite frankly, I don't blame Adams for wanting out. This was a classic example of this team selling a bold face lie to a star player and unfortunately, he bought in hook, line, and sinker. Davante Adams was brought in for two reasons and two reasons only: 1) to play with his old college buddy, Derek Carr and 2) to elevate a Raiders team that went 10-7 and made the playoffs a season ago.
Both of those reasons were dismantled bit by bit thanks to the genius Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler. They ran Carr out of town with no structured plan in place to replace him at QB and slowly, but surely ruined that same squad, not putting them in position to succeed.
When you see your homeboy who gave his life to the organization he played for be treated like crap under the new regime and then playing with downgrades like Jimmy G, Gardner Minshew, and AOC, it's understandable why Adams wants out of this mess. It also doesn't help that he's playing under a proven failure of an OC in Luke Getsy and playing behind a broken offense with no O-Line or stable running game. His business decision in showing a lack of effort against the Panthers in Week 3 was a message sent and the Raiders received it loud and clear.
Adams had two preferred destinations: the Saints and the Jets. Both of those scenarios made sense when you see who's playing at QB between both teams: his old friend Derek Carr or Aaron Rodgers, whom Adams developed quite a rapport with in Green Bay. The latter had more flexibility and the Jets are more under pressure to please Rodgers after they canned Robert Saleh last week. Adams joins an offensive unit with lots of potential with young pieces like Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson.
For the Raiders, this is a sign of another rebuild. Though it's clear they found their No. 1 receiver of the future in Brock Bowers. So, they have at least something to build around. We just have to bear the QB play this season. Between watching Minshew or AOC at QB, it's like choosing whether to eat bull sh*t or horse sh*t. Both are awful in their own right. It would be best the Raiders to tank for a high draft pick the rest of the season to land them a QB because they definitely missed out on decent prospects this year. Season's over anyway.
All in all, this presents two mutually exclusive conclusions: Davante Adams is what the Raiders don't need and the Raiders are what Davante Adams doesn't need. The mutual parting between the two was inevitable.