Graney: Raiders should have traded Davante Adams sooner
It has come to the point of no return for Davante Adams and the Raiders.
The star wide receiver has asked for a trade and will get one. You can make the argument it should have happened sooner, that the team should have some time ago adopted a total rebuild mentality.
Hey, tanking has its place if it leads to landing a franchise quarterback.
But it didn’t go that way, and now we have a disgruntled Adams wanting out. Which is fine if the team holds out until its price is met.
The Raiders waited to be serious about trading him, so they should at least take advantage of time and place. Four games into the season, several teams with playoff aspirations are in need of help at wide receiver.
Might be a blessing in disguise if you can play different proposed deals off one another. Multiple teams might be desperate enough to overpay.
Could be the best thing for both parties. Adams gets his wish, and the Raiders — who are miles away from contending for a championship — receive a return that should help them build for the future.
On to Denver
“Davante is dealing with a hamstring, he’s rehabbing, and the rest of us are focused on Denver,” coach Antonio Pierce said of the team’s road game Sunday. “He is supposed to be rehabbing.”
Supposed to be?
He’s gone.
Pierce not surprisingly wouldn’t address the multitude of stories and social media posts regarding Adams and his wishes to be traded in the past few days. Pierce also didn’t answer questions about his Instagram account “liking” a post that said Adams had played his final game in Las Vegas. He didn’t answer much at all about the receiver.
“I’m just focused on Denver,” Pierce said.
Bill Belichick II.
Pierce still has much to learn about being a head coach. His quotes after the Carolina Panthers game about “business decisions” never should have been made public. Had to eventually walk them back.
Now, he has a star receiver saying the two haven’t talked in a while. Pierce said Wednesday he and Adams “talk often.” Whether he “liked” the Instagram post or not — he didn’t deny it when given the chance — it’s a really bad look.
Trade your best offensive player and begin stockpiling picks. This team needs a quarterback for the future, and it’s going to take a pretty hefty haul to move up in the draft and get one.
“We have a game to win, honestly, a division game,” wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said. “Try to keep everyone focused on that and the things that really matter. It’s going to be a distraction. It is what it is. It doesn’t matter what we get hit with. Compartmentalize it and move forward.”
Draft mediocrity
The last thing you want is another 8-9 season and picking 13th, which you can accomplish with or without Adams. But that’s where the Raiders are likely headed, back to mediocrity in terms of draft position.
Adams will be 32 at season’s end. He has a bum hamstring. His production last season fell off by 25 percent in terms of yards, which absolutely had something to do with the team’s quarterback situation.
None of it means there won’t be serious takers. The sooner a trade occurs the better for all involved. Should have happened before now.
“I get paid here each and every week to get ready for the opponent,” Pierce said. “I don’t blink. I don’t flinch. What I’ve said before, I’ve been through enough in my life with adversity and stuff that it doesn’t bother me.
“We move forward. The next obstacle in front of us is the Denver Broncos. That’s what I presented to my team, and that’s what they’re doing right now in the meeting room and then go out and do it in practice.”
Yeah. It’s an unneeded distraction.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.