There has been no shortage of rumors and speculation regarding Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams eventually joining his former teammate and good buddy Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets.
One former NFL quarterback and current radio host on WFAN, Boomer Esiason, is throwing more fuel on the fire, with the former Jets and Cincinnati Bengals signal-caller saying that if a trade between New York and Las Vegas does go down this year, that it will happen before the start of the season.
“The dead cap for the Raiders this year is $40 million [if they traded him]," he said. "I’m hearing that this is gonna happen — if it does happen — in late August or early September. And the cap hit for him is $25 million.
“I’m not sure about why it would take that long, but Davante is never going to come out publicly and say ‘I want to leave the Raiders.’ But you hear in this ‘Receiver’ program, where he says, ‘I gotta get out of here before I get killed.’ He says that.
"That leads the viewer to believe that he wants out of [Vegas]. But I don’t see him saying that publicly... I could see him saying to his agent, much like he did in Green Bay, the same type of thing.”
This seems to be pure speculation from Esiason and whoever he spoke to rather than a report. You can tell that by him throwing in "if it does happen" in his comment.
The fact of the matter is, it would make zero sense for the Raiders to trade Adams before the season begins. Not only would losing Adams hurt team moral and their chances of competing overall this year, but Las Vegas could stand to get a better deal at the deadline, when teams could be more desperate to add a playmaker.
But even then, the Raiders would have to be out of playoff contention for general manager Tom Telesco to even consider such a move, and that scenario is unlikely because the Raiders have a better roster than that and don't figure to be in that position after Week 9, barring a total disaster.
In terms of the money, yes the Raiders could save by unloading Adams before the start of the season. However, Las Vegas is not cap-space needy by any means, with the team having a whopping $34 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap.
There is zero logic behind the idea that the Raiders would trade Adams before the start of the season, unless he really, really wants out. But if that were the case, he'd likely be gone already.
