Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams.
Things haven’t gone smoothly for Davante Adams since joining the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. The team has missed the playoffs in back-to-back years and one of the main reasons why he joined the team, quarterback Derek Carr, is no longer on the team.
Adams and Carr played together at Fresno State and wanted to reunite at the NFL level. However, the quarterback didn’t play well during the 2022 season and the Raiders moved on. Adams has tried to be a good sport about the move but now that there’s been some time removed, he’s getting more honest about the Carr decision.
“[Carr] played a huge part in [coming to Las Vegas],” Adams said during the July 17 episode of “Club Shay Shay.” “I grew up a Raiders fan, being from The Bay, and my whole family being Raiders fans. And so, in a sense, it was kind of written. But at the same time, I don’t know if I would have made the move if it had not been him under center when I got there.”
“When they got rid of him, I was not happy about that at all. But just based off the business, and knowing how, at that point, I was going into Year 10 once they got rid of him. So I’m thinking about it, like, ‘This ain’t the first, and definitely won’t be the last, person that, you know, means a lot to me and my career that I’m not going to be able to be around.’ So you’ve got to roll with the punches and figure it out.”
The Raiders did improve from 6-11 in 2022 to 8-9 in 2023 without Carr but it’s fair to question if the team would be better off had they kept the veteran quarterback.
Davante Adams on Derek Carr Leaving Raiders
“When they got rid of him, I was not happy about that at all.”
Las Vegas Raiders Haven’t Adequately Replaced Derek Carr
Carr was the Raiders’ starting quarterback for nine years so it wasn’t an easy decision to move on from him. He was a four-time Pro Bowler but his main issue was winning. He went 63-79 as a starter and never won a playoff start.
It’s understandable why the Raiders would want to go after a potential upgrade but they didn’t have a strong replacement plan. The team signed Jimmy Garoppolo who was benched after six starts. Now the Raiders have Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell battling for the starting job. Neither are upgrades over Carr so it’s going to be at least another year before the team finds an adequate replacement.
Will Davante Adams Finish Season With Las Vegas Raiders?
Adams has been known to speak frankly during his time in Las Vegas. He’s been open about frustrations and moves he disagreed with. He clearly didn’t like the quarterback change and likely had more moves he didn’t like.
There’s been a lot of trade speculation involving Adams but the Raiders haven’t seemed interested in moving him. He’s also been consistent about saying he doesn’t want to get traded. However, if the season starts off rough, anything could be on the table. Whether or not Adams has a long-term future in Las Vegas could largely depend on how this season goes. Regardless, it still seems most likely that he will finish the season with the Raiders.