NFL insider shares when Raiders may make Davante Adams available

It was reported last week that the Las Vegas Raiders seemingly have "no real interest" in trading star wide receiver Davante Adams this summer as stories routinely link him with the New York Jets.

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated backed that take in a piece published Tuesday.

"For whatever it’s worth, I don’t think there’s a Davante Adams trade on the horizon," Breer wrote. "My sense is the Las Vegas Raiders don’t want to put head coach Antonio Pierce in a position where the front office is saying, with its actions, that this just isn’t the team’s year."

Adams' agents and the 31-year-old himself have attempted to pour cold water over rumors suggesting he could join the Jets or a different team before September. Others have mentioned that the five-year, $141.25M contract that Adams received to join the Raiders via a trade from the Green Bay Packers in March 2022 makes it difficult for any club to acquire his services anytime soon.

With that said, the Raiders are holding a rather uninspiring quarterback competition this summer and don't appear to be all that close to competing for much of note. As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had Las Vegas at -320 betting odds to finish the 2024 season with under 8.5 total wins.

"But before the trade deadline? That’d be more feasible, as I see it, if the Raiders' season is circling the drain," Breer added about Adams-related trade talks. "Doing it at, say, with a 1–6 record, would be a lot easier to explain to the locker room than doing it at 0–0. And at that point, the Raiders consider the reality that the cash in Adams' deal jumps from $17.5M this year to $36.25M in 2025 and $36.25M in ’26, making it less than likely he’s with the team after the season."

Former Jets quarterback and current NFL analyst Boomer Esiason raised eyebrows when he said earlier this month that New York could land Adams sometime "in late August" or in "early September." Esiason's timeline may have been just slightly off, as the trade deadline for the 2024 season is set to arrive on Nov. 5.