Raiders' Mark Davis reacts to trading Davante Adams to Jets

What felt like an inevitable trade for months finally occurred on Tuesday when the Las Vegas Raiders sent star wide receiver Davante Adams to the New York Jets. 

Raiders owner Mark Davis addressed the transaction while speaking with reporters at the quarterly league meetings in Atlanta.

"It’s part of this life in football," Davis said, as The Athletic shared. "Players come and go. If things don’t work out, they don’t work out. (General manager) Tom Telesco did a good job today of making sure that we move forward in the future with as little distraction as possible." 

The term "distraction" is hard to overlook, especially after both The Athletic and ESPN published articles on Wednesday outlining how Adams' relationship with the Raiders began to deteriorate late in the 2022 season when it became clear that Derek Carr, his college quarterback, was no longer part of the franchise's future. It seems like there was never a chance the Raiders would hold onto Adams through the Nov. 5 trade deadline, which could understandably cause one to wonder why the team didn't do better to get more for his services before Tuesday. 

Specifically, the Raiders landed a conditional third-round draft pick that can become a second-round selection if Adams earns an All-Pro nod or is on the Jets' active roster for the upcoming AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl LIX.

"I leave these decisions up to the general manager and the head coach," Davis added. "They make the football decisions. I consult with them and I might play devil’s advocate a lot of times, but they make the decisions and they make the final decision." 

Las Vegas' inability to move up in this year's draft order to acquire quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has become the betting favorite to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award with the Washington Commanders, probably should've resulted in the end of Adams' time with the Raiders. 

Believing that Adams would love having either journeyman Gardner Minshew or 2023 fourth-round draft pick Aidan O'Connell as his full-time QB1 was always silly, as it's now clear the 31-year-old wanted to reunite with good friend and Jets signal-caller Aaron Rodgers for some time.