Talk of reunion is cool and all, Raiders say. But here’s real reason for Davante Adams trade
Acquiring star wide receiver Davante Adams was a trade that Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler had to make.
But even though Adams’ considerable skill set was no secret and the chemistry between him and quarterback Derek Carr already well established, there still was some research to do.
Only after that process, the team’s brain trust says, was it all systems go for the Raiders.
“Dave talks to all the teams, and you just kind of want to make sure you have a relationship with everybody,” McDaniels said Monday at the NFL’s annual meetings in Palm Beach, Florida. “If there’s anything like that that’s out there, you just try to see if there’s opportunities to improve your team. I don’t know exactly the day or anything like that, but when it became apparent that they were going to think about doing something like that, then you have to start doing your work and really diving into the process of researching the player, the player’s fit, and anything that you can to try to figure out if it’s something that would make your team better.
“And then that’s a different process, which involves a lot of different layers and research, phone calls, tape evaluation, contacts, and hopefully when you’re making a decision that is of that magnitude that you cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s, and with Davante, we just felt like this was the kind of a player that we would consider doing this for. He’s certainly been a great football player and after having an opportunity to meet him and spend some time with him the other day, everything that we had heard, everything that we were told, all the different recommendations and all the different things that we heard about him as a person, those were true, too. So, feel really comfortable about the decision that we made and really good about the player and the person that we’ve added to our team.”
The Raiders acquired Adams from the Green Bay Packers on March 17, reuniting him with his best friend and a former Fresno State teammate in Carr. The Raiders gave up their first- and second-round picks in the 2022 NFL draft.
Adams spoke to the media for the first time as a Raider on March 22 in Henderson, Nevada. He said he already had assured Carr that there was no reason to “feel any pressure to force me the ball or nothing.’
“Let’s just go out there and do this thing like how we did before,” Adams said. “I mean, (we) put together a pretty good resume in college together. This ain’t college, but we still got that connection so looking forward to putting it on display.”
McDaniels said he liked what he heard from Adams. “He’s unselfish,” the coach said, sounding as if everybody quickly got on the same page, from the front office to the coaching staff to his star quarterback and new No. 1 receiver.
“I think you’re talking about two really mature guys,” said McDaniels, who admitted to giving in to a fist-bump celebration with Ziegler after completing the trade. “Look, if you want to win and you want to win playoff games and you want to compete to do the things that we want to do in our organization, and those players want to do themselves as teammates, those are the things you have to do. There’s really no choice about this. I mean you can’t just be hardheaded and start throwing it to one person and all that stuff. That’ll never work. I don’t care who the two people are.
“I’ve been fortunate to coach some different combinations of those kind of players. The right thing to do is always what’s best for the team. And I think those two guys understand that and the fact that they have a great attitude about it, I think is really helpful for everybody else.”
Despite star quality, some ‘hard decisions’
McDaniels said while he could appreciate the history between Adams and Carr, dating to their college days, there never would have been a deal made just for the sake of a reunion.
It ultimately had to be about what gives the Raiders the best chance to win games.
“We were looking at it from a football perspective, from the Raiders perspective, does this make us a better football team?” McDaniels said. “What do we have to give up? Is it equivalent to the player we think we’re getting back in return? Those are hard decisions. And so, we were looking at more from that perspective.”
Still, the coach can appreciate what the reunion means to Carr and Adams.
“Really on a personal note, happy for those two guys,” McDaniels said. “There’s not a lot of guys who get to do that. I’m excited for those two guys personally because I know that they have an affection for one another as people and families and those kinds of things. It runs a lot deeper than football, so it’ll be fun to watch those two guys together.”
Any signings on the horizon?
McDaniels took on other questions, including free agent Stephon Gilmore. He remains available but the coach said there is “nothing substantial in that regard..”
“I have a lot of respect for Steph and what he’s done in his career. Certainly, we would look at anything at any position if we thought it would help us. Obviously, it’s got to fit on both ends.”
The Raiders already traded for Rock Ya-Sin from the Indianapolis Colts and added cornerbacks Darius Phillips and Anthony Averett in free agency to pair with Trayvon Mullen Jr., Nate Hobbs, Amik Robertson and Cre’Von LeBlanc.
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 2:57 PM.
