HENDERSON, Nev. — For much of his time with the Las Vegas Raiders, Davante Adams’ happiness has been constantly scrutinized. In his two seasons, they’ve posted just a 14-19 record, changed their coach and general manager, and are now set to start their fifth quarterback.
That’s kept the rumor mill about the receiver’s long-term status with the franchise churning, and he’s gotten used to it — to the point where he typically ignores it. A comment made by former NFL receiver DeSean Jackson on “The Herd” last month, however, set him off. Jackson said he spoke to Adams directly and stated that “he is unhappy.”
When asked about it, Adams was adamant that the conversation never happened.
“At the end of the day, the facts are the facts and that is not a fact,” Adams said Wednesday. “I’ve probably spoken to DeSean Jackson maybe three or four times in my life and I never had a conversation about him ever. And I put that on my kids. I’ve never spoken to him about anything. The only person I really talk to about my feelings in general is my wife, probably, and she ain’t out there leaking anything and dropping stuff like that in the team.
“So, once again, whatever you see, if it ain’t from the horse’s mouth, it’s probably bulls—.”
Don’t believe what you hear about Davante Adams being unhappy with the #Raiders. “It’s all BS.” pic.twitter.com/vO5imErOgx
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) September 4, 2024
In April, Adams said, “If I wanted to be gone, I’d be gone by now,” and added that “this is where I want to be.” That briefly got Adams out of the news cycle, but he was thrust back into it when a litany of his emotional outbursts during the 2023 season were captured in Netflix’s “Receiver” docuseries, which came out in July. That refueled the talk about Adams’ future with the Raiders, and while he said in July he was still “in a really good place,” external pessimism about the Raiders’ chances to compete in 2024 kept it going.
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Struggles, frustration from Raiders’ Davante Adams captured on Netflix’s ‘Receiver’
“I don’t even want to give it attention because it’s already enough,” Adams said. “The moment I open my mouth, it’s all over everything, but I guess they got what they wanted this time. Whatever has been put out there lately is complete B.S. … In terms of me being upset or not being happy in this organization, it’s just a bunch of B.S. that’s just meant to throw everybody off and get clickbait. Everybody wants to see what Davante Adams has got to say and he’s pissed off in Vegas. If I was pissed off, I mean, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
When the Green Bay Packers initially traded Adams to the Raiders in 2022, it seemed like a perfect fit. Adams grew up a Raiders fan in East Palo Alto, Calif., was reunited with his former college quarterback, Derek Carr, and was handsomely paid with a massive five-year deal along the way.
Things would rapidly dissolve, however, as the Raiders endured a brutal 6-11 season and Carr was released in the offseason.
When the Raiders got off to another rough start in 2023, the New York Jets attempted to acquire Adams at the trade deadline. The Raiders declined, which opened the door for a positive turning point to emerge.
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After being named interim head coach, Antonio Pierce quickly won over the locker room with a player-friendly approach that differed significantly from former head coach Josh McDaniels’ authoritarian temperament. That included Adams, who bought in and publicly reaffirmed his commitment to the franchise.
Nonetheless, Adams’ status will continue to be discussed through the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4. He’s aware of that, but he implored the public to only believe what comes straight from him.
“Whatever you hear from my mouth is what you get,” Adams said. “And I don’t think that y’all (reporters) in front of me are getting the vibe that I want to leave this place. And if you do, then you’re just feeding into the bulls— that they’re feeding you out there. And that’s not reality.”
Required reading
(Photo: Louis Grasse/Getty Images)
