Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams.
Now that the dust has settled regarding the Las Vegas Raiders‘ decision to bench Derek Carr, the team should be working hard to do some damage control. Carr had many close friends on the team and was a beloved leader. That said, it’s difficult to imagine every single player on the team is upset about him getting benched.
The biggest name who was clearly upset was wide receiver Davante Adams. After the news broke, he made it clear that he wouldn’t have ever come to the Raiders if it wasn’t for Carr. Amid the benching news, people noticed on Twitter that Adams liked a tweet that was showing a Green Bay Packers highlight. He also liked a tweet where an NFL analyst Brian Baldinger was questioning why the Raiders didn’t throw Adams the ball more during the loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Davante Adams just wants to go home
Those likes would suggest that Adams isn’t very happy with the Raiders and could be regretting his decision to leave Green Bay. However, that might not be the case. Later on, he liked a tweet that defended his decision to go to Las Vegas: “[Adams] got generational money and is able to play close to home, I think this is still a win for him.”
This latest like from Davante Adams would suggest he doesn’t plan to leave 👀
Based on that like, Adams doesn’t appear to be totally done with the Raiders quite yet. He doesn’t exactly have a ton of leverage considering he signed a five-year contract less than a year ago.
Insider Doesn’t Believe Adams Will Force Way Out
Adams wouldn’t be a Raider if Carr wasn’t on the team. The two played together at Fresno State and have maintained a close friendship ever since. There’s no way that he’s happy to see Carr get benched less than a year after coming to Las Vegas. That said, he can’t be happy with how the season has gone.
Despite the fact the two were supposed to have great chemistry, Adams has four games this season with less than 30 receiving yards. He didn’t have a single game with less than 30 receiving yards over the past four seasons with the Packers. A major reason for that has been Carr’s inability to consistently throw him accurate passes. While he’ll never say it, Adams might be better off with another quarterback coming in.
According to The Athletic’s Tashan Reed, he’s not getting the sense that the star wide receiver will force his way out yet. Reed noted that Adams grew up a Raiders fan and is now closer to home.
On Davante Adams: While he’s certainly upset, I don’t get the sense that this is a situation where he’s going to suddenly attempt to force his way out. He grew up in the Bay Area as a #Raiders fan and came to Vegas for multiple reasons, obviously including Derek Carr.
Raiders Still Need to Convince Adams to Stay
Adams is arguably the Raiders’ best player and still one of the five best wide receivers in the NFL. Unless the plan is to start a total rebuild, Las Vegas needs to make sure they keep him happy. The best way to do that is to bring in a capable quarterback to replace Carr. Tom Brady is the obvious choice due to his impending free agency and ties to Josh McDaniels. It’s difficult to imagine Adams would be upset about the opportunity to play with the greatest quarterback of all time.
Signing Jimmy Garoppolo or trading for Aaron Rodgers could also be enough to appease the wide receiver. While there’s a good chance the Raiders draft a rookie quarterback, Adams would not be thrilled if the team started one. How the wide receiver feels is something the team has to consider going forward.