As word came out that Derek Carr would be either cut or traded by February 15th one thing became finally and officially clear: Absolutely no one won the Davante Adams trade.
We all know the story. After mishandling their relationship with the star receiver Green Bay was forced to trade Adams to a team that was closer to his family and had his best friend as a quarterback. We all remember the one hall a famer to another quote.
As the season began and Green Bay’s young receivers struggled, the Packers looked on the losing end. As Las Vegas became toxic and Christian Watson came alive it seemed like the Raiders had lost, at least in the short term. But now, with both teams out of the playoffs, there’s not a winner in sight.
The Packers squandered an unbelievably important year in their back to back MVP quarterback’s twilight. Say what you want about Rodgers’ play this year, but it’s obvious things could have been far better with Adams on the field. Had this offense adapted to their new identity with number 17 still on the team they could have been potentially deadly. This run game with a superstar on the outside and young receivers beneath him? They wouldn’t have had to worry about beating the Lions to get into the playoffs if Adams was still around. Right now they’d be sitting pretty as one of the most dangerous teams in the playoff field.
Rodgers lost huge and gave away another opportunity at a Super Bowl. But in fairness, his behavior has as much to do with this trade as anything.
Brian Gutekunst is a loser in this. The trade is just another questionable decision on his resume. Drafting AJ Dillon and Jordan Love when you’re in a title window and have some of the best in the league at those positions was crazy. When you sit it next to mishandling Davante Adams you jam a dagger through the heart of Cheeseheads everywhere. They all understand not getting another title out of Rodgers is a crime.
Davante Adams lost huge. Despite the giant contract, which he could’ve gotten with Green Bay or elsewhere, there is almost nothing good for Adams in Las Vegas. I won’t dismiss playing for his childhood favorite team or being closer to family, but a year full of outspoken comments and on the field frustrations and altercations has been topped off with the Raiders moving on from the main reason he came to the Raiders. How this plays out will be very interesting. I can’t imagine Adams is thrilled and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him on another team very very soon regardless of what classy quotes are coming out of him currently.
The Raiders lost. They now have a potentially unhappy star receiver with a lot of dead cap money to deal with. The disaster in that locker room has been, in part, created by the decision to bring Adams in and the expectations that came with it. No one in their wildest imagination would’ve guessed preseason that the Raiders off-season would start would end with Derek Carr potentially being cut. Maybe they can fix it with a free gent quarterback but that’s a very big maybe when dealing with such a cash strapped and clearly dysfunctional team.
Derek Carr somehow may have been the biggest loser. The man thought he was gaining the best wide receiver in the league and somehow ended up losing his job. Insanity.
Maybe Tom Brady comes to Oakland and everything changes? Maybe a few years from now the way we look at this trade will change, but I doubt it. Essentially every aspect of this except Davante Adams getting paid and being close to his family went negative. From a football perspective everybody lost.
