Insider: Raiders To Send Away Star Player in Blockbuster Trade

The Las Vegas Raiders are likely to miss the playoffs for the second straight season and the team will have a different head coach and general manager than they did heading into the 2023 season. Wide receiver Davante Adams is going to be 31 at the beginning of next season and it wouldn’t make much sense for him to stick around for a rebuild.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano was asked which star player he believes will be traded before the 2024 offseason and he expects the Raiders to make a deal.

“Davante Adams is the obvious one to me,” Graziano wrote in a December 20 column. “Even if the interim guys keep the jobs (which is possible), the Raiders are going to have a different coach and GM than they had when they acquired Adams and signed him to a contract extension. One of the reasons the star receiver went there was to play with quarterback Derek Carr, who’s no longer there.

“Adams has played the good soldier and not requested a trade, but I do think there’s a strong chance he gets to the offseason and he and/or the team decide it’s best to move on. Whether that means he ends up in New Orleans with Carr or New York with old buddy Aaron Rodgers or somewhere else entirely, the acquiring team would have to pay him $16.89 million guaranteed next season, and the Raiders would take on a dead money cap hit of around $23 million.”

The Raiders decided against trading Adams prior to the trade deadline but that was when Dave Ziegler was still general manager. Interim general manager Champ Kelly was assistant general manager when the team acquired the wide receiver but if he gets the full-time job this offseason, it remains to be seen what his vision for the team would be.

What Is Davante Adams Worth in Trade?

The Raiders gave up a first and second-round pick to get Davante Adams in a trade with the Green Bay Packers in 2022. Two years, later, the team would likely want at least a first-round pick in return for Adams. He’s still playing at a high level despite inconsistent quarterback player.

Adams was named First-Team All-Pro last season after catching 100 passes for 1,516 yards and 14 touchdowns. His numbers are down this year as he has 84 catches for 968 yards and five touchdowns with three games left. Though he’s not likely to be a First-Team All-Pro again this season, he’s clearly still an elite wide receiver and should be able to get a first-round pick from a team with Super Bowl aspirations if they decide to trade him.

Davante Has Best Body Control in NFL

Davante Adams isn’t the biggest or fastest wide receiver in the NFL but he’s arguably the best. What makes him special has less to do with athleticism and more to do with skill.

Matt Bowen of ESPN went through and listed the best players in the NFL at 101 different skills and he believes Adams has the best body control of any player in the league.

“An extremely fluid mover with high-end route running skills, Adams has the body control to separate off the release and sink in and out of his cuts,” Bowen wrote in a December 20 column. “He’s on pace for another 1,000-yard receiving season, which would be his fourth straight.”