When the Las Vegas Raiders traded for Davante Adams in 2022 and gave him a contract worth $14o million, the hope was that the team would be competing for the playoffs. Two years into Adams’ tenure and Las Vegas hasn’t been close to a playoff berth.
Adams remains an elite wide receiver and has over 1,100 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons but he’s also 31 and should be on the decline. Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report went through and listed every team’s most overpaid player and landed on Adams as the Raiders’.
“This was a tie between Adams and new addition Christian Wilkins,” Gagnon wrote in an April 10 column. “The former is the second-highest paid receiver in the sport and appears to be declining at 31, while the latter is now the fifth-highest paid defender in the league despite having never been a first- or second-team All-Pro at 28. At least there’s more upside with Wilkins.”
Adams does have the Raiders’ biggest salary cap hit at $25.35 million in 2024, and it’s going to skyrocket in 2025 when it reaches $44.1 million. Las Vegas isn’t grossly overpaying any player so Adams may have just been selected due to the fact that there weren’t a ton of options.
DAVANTE. ADAMS.#LVvsMIA | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/7avWnIHEaG
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 19, 2023
Not Fair to Say Davante Adams Is Declining
Brad Gagnon made the assertion that Davante Adams is on the decline but there’s little reason to believe that’s true. Adams did go from 1,516 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 2022 to 1,144 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2023. Yes, his stats did decline but that’s ignoring context.
The Raiders had three different starting quarterbacks in 2023 and the team took on dead money just to move on from two of them. Rookie fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell ended up starting most of the games but it took him several games to get comfortable.
Adams can’t throw himself the ball. The Raiders’ offense as a whole was lackluster in 2023 and also had to go through a coaching change halfway through the season. Despite all of that, Adams finished 15th in the NFL in receiving yards. Luke Getsy coached Adams for years in Green Bay and is now the Raiders’ offensive coordinator. He should know how to get Adams the ball more effectively than the last coaching staff did.
Las Vegas Raiders Still Need a QB
The Raiders’ quarterback group should be in a better position than it was last season. Aidan O’Connell will be better in his second year and Gardner Minshew is likely an upgrade over Jimmy Garoppolo.
However, the Raiders would still be wise to try to upgrade the group. There’s been a lot of talk around the idea of the team drafting a quarterback early. Davante Adams seems to like LSU’s Jayden Daniels but Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. is a more realistic target.
Either player would provide much more upside to the position than what the Raiders currently have. Having a wide receiver like Adams would make life easier for a rookie and the team doesn’t plan to trade him. It seems likely that the Raiders will at least strongly consider taking a quarterback in the first round but could also upgrade the offensive line. Either addition should help Adams be more productive.
