The departure of Davante Adams from the Raiders has been a long time coming, and Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said Adams’ frustrations go all the way back to his first season in Las Vegas.
In recent weeks alone, Adams has been disingenuous with fans in national media appearances, and an ESPN report on Friday detailed the first signs of trouble between Adams and head coach Antonio Pierce in the offseason.
“The first sign of trouble this year was when Adams skipped voluntary OTAs,” ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez and Rich Cimini reported.
“Despite the Raiders installing a new offense under incoming offensive coordinator Luke Getsy (Adams had endorsed the hiring because they had worked together in Green Bay) and bringing in new quarterback Gardner Minshew. Adams posted a video on social media of him washing his car while his teammates were practicing.”
Additionally, it sounds like Adams wasn’t happy the Raiders didn’t sign or draft the quarterback(s) he wanted in the offseason.
“Pierce wanted Adams to be more of a vocal leader this season,” Gutierrez and Cimini continued. “Adams… believed he had a voice in personnel matters and was all-in on the Raiders trading up to draft a top-tier QB like Jayden Daniels, or acquiring a more accomplished veteran like Justin Fields. But when the Raiders settled on Minshew and a returning O’Connell, frustration grew for Adams, team sources said.”
For weeks, Adams had been saying he was happy as a member of the Raiders and went on the attack in September against anyone spreading “clickbait” and “BS” otherwise.
We know now that Adams wasn’t happy and hadn’t been happy for a long time.
Adams acknowledged on the Up and Adams Show this week that leaving the Raiders was something that “had been on his heart for a while.”
x: @raidersbeat
That’s perfect. We get rid of all good players and get nothing in return. Randy Moss, Davante Adams and how could we forget Kalilla Mack. If I could trust upper management and the GM, which I don’t, I would trade our #1 and Maxx Crosby to get our franchise qb. Our defense is ranked near the bottom with Crosby, so why not trade him to get a franchise qb.
He quit on team, hope him and Rodgers are watching playoffs together on their couch. Raiders should have seen this coming and moved him in the off season. Would have spared the fans from listening to him lie all season.
I like Adams and I get he is (was) the star Raider, but he is not a coach and he should not be given that kind of deference.
Coaches and GMs need to select players based on who they can work with, the skill sets, the team philosophy and game plan – not who is friendly with whom.
If this reporting is accurate then this whole experiment was predictable.
Who cares? Can we stop talking about this and talk about the Raiders’ difficulties and how to solve them? The Raiders have excellent personnel, esp. on defense. Are we giving up on the season in exchange for a high draft pick? I can’t believe that Pierce has given up. Let’s think about what we need to do to win now, not cry over spilled milk.
We need to address the offensive line before the trade deadline are offense line is costing us games!!!!
Send minshew packing get offensive line help and quarterback help before the trade deadline get anybody!!!!