The Davante Adams saga is now over for the Las Vegas Raiders after they traded the wide receiver to the New York Jets, but they were reportedly surprised along the way.
Rich Cimini and Paul Gutierrez of ESPN published a column Friday that explored the entire process that ended with Adams being traded to the Jets and noted the Raiders and head coach Antonio Pierce were “stunned” when the receiver asked to be traded following a Week 4 win over the Cleveland Browns.
According to the report, Pierce thought the reason Adams requested a meeting was to say his hamstring was healthy for the upcoming Week 5 game against the Denver Broncos.
“The Raiders were shocked not so much by the request, but by the timing of it,” Cimini and Gutierrez wrote.
Yet the report also highlighted that “in less than a calendar year, Adams went from saying he would ‘run through a wall for that man’ upon Pierce’s promotion from linebackers coach to interim coach Nov. 1, to believing the situation was untenable.”
The receiver thought he would have more of a say in the team’s personnel decisions and became frustrated when Las Vegas decided to go with the Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O’Connell route at quarterback, which was all the more notable because Pierce was hoping Adams would become more of a vocal leader in 2024.
Adams can at least take solace knowing the Raiders sent him to New York considering he told insider Kay Adams “the Jets were my No. 1 choice.”
He is now reunited with Aaron Rodgers after the pair was so dominant together on the Green Bay Packers and gives the Jets an opportunity to make a run in the AFC playoff picture despite a 2-4 start.
There is no shortage of offensive firepower in New York with Adams, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall surrounding Rodgers, and the chemistry is already in place between the quarterback and newest weapon.
After all, Adams led the league with 18 touchdown receptions in 2020 with Rodgers and the Packers and tallied three different seasons with more than 1,300 receiving yards during his time in Green Bay.
Now he will look to replicate that success in New York following somewhat of an awkward break with the Raiders.
