The Las Vegas Raiders have officially named Gardner Minshew as their starting quarterback for the upcoming season.
While Aidan O’Connell is very well-liked and respected among his teammates, head coach Antonio Pierce clearly feels that Minshew gives the Raiders the best chance to win.
Other than Maxx Crosby, the biggest star in Vegas is wide receiver Davante Adams.
Interestingly, NFL insider Ari Meirov reported that Adams’ days in the Silver and Black may be numbered.
“It’s not just because he’ll get frustrated because the quarterback play isn’t good, when you look at the Davante Adams contract he has no more guaranteed money after this season,” Meirov stated.
“Not only does he not have any guaranteed money, but the highest-paid receiver in football is Justin Jefferson at $35 million a year. When Davante Adams signed his contract, the last two years there are two inflated non-guaranteed base salaries in there.”
Adams’ contract features two substantial but non-guaranteed base salaries in the final years, a structure that could prompt the Raiders to reconsider his future with the team if their performance falters.
Meirov speculated that if the Raiders are struggling by the trade deadline in November, Adams might find himself on the trading block.
“If this team does start off poorly at the trade deadline in November, I think Davante Adams is going to be a trade candidate come then,” Meirov added.
“There will be teams looking for receiver help, I think Davante Adams will become an attractive player if the Raiders are out of it.”
Despite the swirling rumors, Adams has remained supportive of both Minshew and O’Connell during training camp and expressed confidence in their performances in the preseason.
“They both balled out,” Adams said. “They both did their thing and Gardner came in and picked up where Aidan left off.
“You can see we’ve got two quarterbacks that are not necessarily the same … the O-line was doing a good job keeping both of those guys clean, as much as possible.
“I’ve seen a lot of good so, hopefully, we keep doing that and it’s going to make it hard on [Antonio Pierce] to figure out. But I’m praying for nothing but success for both of them.”
As we now know, it will be Minshew under center – at least to kick off the season.
Of course, Adams has not shied away from expressing his frustration with the Raiders’ quarterback situation in the past.
This frustration was notably captured in the Netflix series “Receiver,” where Adams reacted strongly to a poor pass from former quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo that led to a dangerous hit.
“I gotta get the f*ck outta here before I lose my f*cking life,” Adams said. “I ain’t never been hit this many f*cking times in my career … Every game, I get f*cked up.”
Despite inconsistent quarterback play during his time with the Raiders, Adams has still managed to produce impressive numbers, recording 203 receptions for 2,660 yards and 22 touchdowns over the past two seasons.
However, these individual achievements have yet to translate into playoff success for the team.
While the idea of Vegas trading Adams is certainly not new nor groundbreaking, it’s hard to discount Meirov’s report. If the Raiders struggle this season, there’s an excellent chance Adams will be shipped out of town.
What do you think will end up happening? … Is it only a matter of time before Adams is reunited with his old buddy Aaron Rodgers???