The Las Vegas Raiders have reportedly informed other NFL teams that they would "consider" trading wide receiver Davante Adams for a second-round draft pick and additional compensation, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday (October 1).
"ESPN sources: Raiders have informed other teams that they would 'consider' trading WR Davante Adams for a package that would include a second-round pick and additional compensation," Schefter wrote on his X account.
Trade speculation centered around Adams, who missed the Raiders' Week 4 win against the Cleveland Browns due to a hamstring injury, reignited after comments made by head coach Antonio Pierce in Week 3. Pierce responded, "No, they didn't," when asked by a reporter during his postgame press conference if his team showed up following a 36-22 loss to the previously winless Carolina Panthers at home on September 22 and claimed "there were some individuals that made business decisions, so we'll make business decisions going forward as well," ESPN's Paul Gutierrez reported. The comments were made after Adams appeared to be disgusted and sat on the bench as his teammates went into the locker room down 21-7 at halftime.
âI feel like, I donât know, this is tough for me to identify that. Iâm not sure,â Adams said when asked about Pierceâs comment via Gutierrez.
Adams previously addressed speculation that he was seeking a trade to the New York Jets in order to to reunite with longtime former Green Bay Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers during an appearance on Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast in July.
âWell, Iâll answer it like this: If Iâm gonna be reunited with anybody, it would be Aaron â or relocated and be anywhere, itâd be with Aaron,â Adams said. âBut thatâs not really my â there was a lot of that stuff going on last year in the media and them asking, âWhat are you gonna do about this? Are you thinking about going here?â And they talk about whatever without me even being involved in it.
âAnd it ended up getting all the way to the point where it got in the locker room, and people was thinking that I was the driving force, and Iâm like, yâall just donât understand, man. When you â and I hate to say it like this because it makes me sound like Iâm trying to put myself on a pedestal â but when youâre a certain level of player, it donât have to come from you, and oftentimes itâs not coming from you.â
Adams was featured in the Netflix series Receiver released in July, which showed him voicing his frustration during the Raiders' struggles under then-head coach Josh McDaniels, his gratitude for spending time with Rodgers when the Jets were in Las Vegas for the teams' Week 10 matchup and his endorsement of Pierce, who served as an interim before being eventually hired as the Raiders' full-time head coach.
âIâm actively on the Raiders. What do I look like sitting here talking to other people about being on another team? And thatâs how I still feel about it right now,â said Adams, whoâs entering the third season of a five-year, $140 million contract. âIâm locked in with the Raiders and I really feel good about this team, and as far as I know they feel good about me. If that ever changes, if that got to a point where they werenât feeling the same way, I ainât done playing, so obviously we would figure out whatever we needed to figure out.â
Adams did, however, reminisce of his time with Rodgers, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on his first drive with the Jets last season, during his Club Shay Shay appearance.
âThe thought of playing with Aaron is obviously amazing,â Adams said. âI already know what thatâs like â which is similar to why I came here and reunited with [former Fresno State teammate] Derek [Carr] was âcause I had familiarity with him. And anytime you have that, it gives you a little bit more confidence than starting fresh with somebody youâve never played with before, and it helps when theyâre the best to ever play the game â or at least thatâs how I feel. I donât know how you feel about that, but thatâs certainly how I feel, and [Rodgers has] given me an opportunity to show the world what I can do.â
Adams has 18 receptions for 209 yards and one touchdown through his first three games of the 2024 season.