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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — The agents for Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams shut down rampant rumors and reports Tuesday that their client, a three-time first-team All-Pro and potential future Hall of Famer, was on the trading block.
“This is baseless, unfounded speculation, and Davante is expected to be with the Raiders as there has been absolutely no trade talk — period,” agents Kenny Chapman and Frank Bauer told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Aaron Rodgers, Adams’ former quarterback with the Green Bay Packers who now plays with the New York Jets stoked the rumor mill last week at the American Century Championship golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada, saying, “I love Davante, I can’t wait to play with him … again.”
Rodgers last season hinted several times about a potential reunion, presumably with the Jets.
Adams, entering his 11th NFL season and his third with the Raiders, came to Las Vegas in a blockbuster trade with the Packers for first- and second-round draft picks in March 2022 not only to be closer to his family in the Bay Area of California but also to reunite with his college quarterback at Fresno State, Derek Carr. But Carr was released after the 2022 season, Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were fired as coach and general manager, respectively, on Halloween last fall, and Adams has been visibly frustrated in games.
Because even as Adams, who signed a five-year, $140 million contract with Las Vegas, has caught a combined 203 passes for 2,660 yards and 22 touchdowns the past two seasons, his 11.1 yards-per-catch average last year was the second lowest of his career, while his eight touchdown receptions was the second fewest he has had in a season in which he has played at least 16 games. And the Raiders have a combined record of just 14-20.
“The frustration comes in midseason, when we haven’t made the progress that we need,” Adams said last month. “At this point, you’re not a very mature or experienced football player if you’re getting frustrated in mandatory minicamp. Obviously, I get frustrated at every play if it doesn’t work, like, to a certain degree, but it’s not frustration where you’re losing hope in your teammates or yourself or the potential of what you can do as a team.
“It’s more like, I got a standard and definitely everybody in this circle knows that I’ve a very high standard for myself, so if I run a go route and [the] ball is overthrown, I’m going to be probably cussing on the sideline for a second.”
Adams, currently starring in Netflix’s “Receiver” series, is shown doing exactly that on misfires last season by quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Aidan O’Connell, at one point saying on the sideline that he needed to “get out of here before I get killed,” while lamenting the series of hard hits he was enduring.
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce has leaned on the receiver as a foundational option going forward, and general manager Tom Telesco said of Adams, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, at February’s scouting combine that “he’s a Raider.”
Adams’ agents concur.
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