Several other potential NFL suitors reportedly believe Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams is "engineering" a trade to the New York Jets in order to reunite with longtime former Green Bay Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer on Wednesday (October 2).
"Teams involved Davante Adams’ market have become convinced the Raiders star is focused on engineering a trade to the Jets. The Bills and Steelers are among those who’ve inquired with Vegas on Adams, per sources," Breer wrote on his X account.
Breer's report came after ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Adams preferred the Jets or New Orleans Saints as potential trade destinations. Adams was teammates with Rodgers on the Packers during his first eight NFL seasons and teammates with Saints quarterback Derek Carr in college at Fresno State, as well as during his first season with the Raiders, which played a major role in the franchise acquiring him. Saints wide receiver coach Keith Williams also serves as Adams' personal wide receiver coach and has mentored him.
Breer added that the Bills were "in the same category as the Saints" in that Adams "did show some interest in going there, too," but acknowledged that "cap implications would be tough to overcome in getting a deal done."
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.
“I feel like, I don’t know, this is tough for me to identify that. I’m not sure,” Adams said when asked about Pierce’s comment via Gutierrez.
Adams previously addressed speculation that he was seeking a trade to the Jets in order to to reunite Roders during an appearance on Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast in July.
“Well, I’ll answer it like this: If I’m gonna be reunited with anybody, it would be Aaron — or relocated and be anywhere, it’d be with Aaron,” Adams said. “But that’s not really my — there was a lot of that stuff going on last year in the media and them asking, ‘What are you gonna do about this? Are you thinking about going here?’ And they talk about whatever without me even being involved in it.
“And 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 I’m like, y’all just don’t understand, man. When you — and I hate to say it like this because it makes me sound like I’m trying to put myself on a pedestal — but when you’re a certain level of player, it don’t have to come from you, and oftentimes it’s not coming from you.”
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.
“I’m actively on the Raiders. What do I look like sitting here talking to other people about being on another team? And that’s how I still feel about it right now,” said Adams, who’s entering the third season of a five-year, $140 million contract. “I’m 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 weren’t feeling the same way, I ain’t done playing, so obviously we would figure out whatever we needed to figure out.”
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.
“The thought of playing with Aaron is obviously amazing,” Adams said. “I already know what that’s like — which is similar to why I came here and reunited with [former Fresno State teammate] Derek [Carr] was ’cause I had familiarity with him. And anytime you have that, it gives you a little bit more confidence than starting fresh with somebody you’ve never played with before, and it helps when they’re the best to ever play the game — or at least that’s how I feel. I don’t know how you feel about that, but that’s certainly how I feel, and [Rodgers has] given me an opportunity to show the world what I can do.”
Adams has 18 receptions for 209 yards and one touchdown through his first three games of the 2024 season.