Getty John Lynch, general manager of the 49ers
To be sure, Raiders star receiver Davante Adams did not request or demand a trade on Sunday night, when he gave a rather harsh and honest assessment of his team’s approach to the season through three weeks. But there was no doubt that he was unhappy, and the 49ers should take notice.
One line from his meeting with the media in particular stood out: “I don’t got time to wait around.”
At 31 years old, Adams’ window as a top-flight receiver in the NFL is closing, and despite his many individual accomplishments—six Pro Bowl selections, three All-Pro honors—he has never won a Super Bowl. Heck, he’s never been to one. Adams helped the Packers to four NFC championship game appearances in his career, but was 0-4 (including San Francisco’s 37-20 pounding of Adams’ Packers in 2019).
The Raiders’ current state of dysfunction, and Adams’ unhappiness with it, has led to speculation around the league about Adams’ future, and whether he will request a trade prior to this year’s October 31 deadline. If he should do so, the 49ers are a good landing spot, according to one league observer.
“49ers general manager John Lynch hasn’t been shy about adding marquee weapons, especially after trading for Christian McCaffrey prior to last year’s trade deadline, and Adams would add yet another new wrinkle to Kyle Shanahan’s offense,” wrote Matt Lombardo of Fanbuzz.
49ers Can Afford to Take on Davante Adams
When it comes to a potential Adams trade, San Francisco has the financial means, as well as the motivation to make it happen. The finances come first, and are the 49ers’ big advantage here. Adams signed a five-year, $140 million contract when he left Green Bay for Las Vegas last year, and has a $14.7 million cap hit this year ($25.3 million next year).
According to Spotrac, the 49ers have $44.5 million in cap space on hand, which gives them an advantage in the pursuit of any star player. They’d have to sacrifice draft capital, probably even a first-rounder. But hey, it’s Davante Adams.
As for motivation, that’s clearly the Super Bowl. Heading into Week 4, the 49ers have established themselves as the most complete team in the league, and one of probably only three teams in the NFC—with Philadelphia and, perhaps, Dallas—with a real chance to win the conference. There are only three undefeated teams in the league, and among those teams, only Miami (19.7 per game) has a bigger scoring margin than the 49ers (16.0 per game).
At online sports books like BetMGM and Draft Kings, the 49ers are listed as favorites to win it all.
Davante Adams Would Make 49ers a Juggernaut
Despite a strong receiving corps built around stars Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, with George Kittle at tight end, the 49ers could still use more weapons. Samuel is s great short-throw option, capable of breaking big plays, and Aiyuk is a precise route-runner with speed. Kittle is a prototypical hybrid tight end/receiver.
The 49ers’ quarterback quarterback, Brock Purdy, is a second-year player who has 11 games of experience under his belt, so getting him as many top-flight targets as possible will only help ease his burden. Adams qualifies: Even last season, he tallied 1,516 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns.
And Shanahan has a strong reputation for offensive creativity. Put Adams into the already potent mix of 49ers skill players, and the addition of Adams could make the 49ers an offensive juggernaut.
As Lombardo wrote: “Giving Shanahan an additional chess piece like Adams to stretch the field will make the 49ers’ offense even more taxing on opposing defensive coordinators and further buttress Brock Purdy as needing to do little more than manage the game with an abundance of game-changing weapons around him.”
Purdy “manage the game”? The guy has played how many NFL games? What’s his record and how did he do yesterday? Maybe with a few more wins he’ll be more respectable. . .. There are a lot of great players on this team but that should not take away from recognition and appreciation of Purdy’s performance and ability.