Raiders receiver Davante Adams recently said some things to Mirin Fader of TheRinger.com. Beyond the fact that Adams’s motivation to leave the Packers included an obsession with proving he could thrive without quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Adams was candid about his concerns regarding the current direction of the Raiders.
After the comments surfaced, Adams posted on social media an image of himself and Raiders G.M. Dave Ziegler, with this message over the image: “The man.”
That’s fine. But it doesn’t change what Adams said. He said, of the front office, “We don’t see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now.”
He also said, “I’m going to have to buy into this and try to be as optimistic as possible. It’s not what I expected to happen, but it’s something that’s the reality now.”
Adams hasn’t denied saying what he said. He hasn’t claimed his comments were off the record or taken out of context. His photo with Ziegler arguably represents an effort to clean up any mess that might have resulted from his remarks.
It’s still unclear why he feels the way he does. It would seem to be an indictment of the decision to make Jimmy Garoppolo the team’s quarterback.
It would be interesting to know who Adams would have preferred. He admitted in the article that he lobbied Rodgers to pick the Raiders. With Tom Brady now available, and reportedly close to becoming an owner of the team, maybe Adams would like “the man” to pursue adding “the GOAT.”
Adams claims to have a strong desire to win. Most NFL players do. But Adams picked Las Vegas, knowing full well the division in which they play, and the presence of other great teams in the conference.
He wanted to get paid. He did. He wanted to establish that he can be a great receiver without a great quarterback (even though he suggested last year he was going from one Hall of Famer to another). He did. He wanted to be closer to family. He is.
If his goal were to get to a Super Bowl and win it, the Raiders aren’t the place he should have targeted. Given the current realities of the Vegas roster and the rosters of the teams with which the Raiders compete, it’s hard to imagine the Raiders getting to the point where Adams wants them to be before he’s no longer a member of the team.