Las Vegas Raiders general manager Tom Telesco moved to end speculation at the NFL scouting combine in February that star wide receiver Davante Adams might be on the trade block.
“He’s a Raider,” Telesco said.
Even so, that talk has continued about Adams’ future in Las Vegas — and it intensified to the point that his representatives tried to shut it down. They called it “baseless, unfounded speculation” in a statement last month to ESPN.
Adams himself has said he’s focused on this season for the Raiders, who went through their first training camp practice Wednesday.
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“I don’t live my life in the mindset of things may get bad,” Adams said. “I like to think it’s a fresh slate. I’ve got a whole new mentality. I didn’t come into last year in a bad place. It was the way the cookie crumbled.”
The Netflix documentary series “Receiver” showed how frustrating last season was for Adams. He was one of five players the streaming service followed on and off the field, chronicling his ups and many downs.
Adams exuded visible frustration over the Raiders’ 3-5 start and the play of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who had thrown seven touchdown passes and nine interceptions to that point.
Raiders owner Mark Davis then fired coach Josh McDaniels and elevated Antonio Pierce to interim coach. One of Pierce’s first acts was to bench Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell, who led the Raiders to a 5-4 record over the second half of the season.
Adams said in “Receiver” that he “signed off on” the quarterback change.
“I love Jimmy, and he’s a great guy,” Adams said in the documentary. “But something had to happen in order for us to have a chance down the stretch and for me to remain a Raider.”
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Adams said Wednesday the series accurately depicted his and the team’s journey.
“You saw raw emotion and that was a genuine look at what we were going through,” Adams said. “It wasn’t always the brightest point, but there were a lot of good moments, too. Obviously, it’s a television show at the end of the day, so there are going to be certain narratives and things like that. Not that it was not accurate, because it was very accurate in the way that I felt, the way that the team felt.
“But I’m in a really good place right now. I’m really excited. I think today was a good day to start, so happy about the opportunity we have in front of us.”
Pierce, now the full-time coach, said he “watched pieces of” the documentary, but didn’t want to make it an issue going forward.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Pierce said. “Davante signed up for the show and there were things said and shown. It is what it is. You can’t erase it.”
The ideal situation for the Raiders would be for Adams, a three-time first-team All-Pro, to maintain his elite status and help lead the club into playoff contention. He has at least 100 catches and 1,000 yards in five of his past six seasons.
His quarterback remains unknown, with O’Connell and Gardner Minshew competing to start. Pierce wouldn’t put a timeline on naming a starter.
“We have open conversations and we all get reps with the quarterbacks,” Adams said. “Aidan’s running with the ones right now, but guys will get enough opportunities where there will be a solid evaluation.”
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The quarterback Adams remains most linked to is Aaron Rodgers, which led to the most recent trade speculation.
Rodgers, who starred with Adams for eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers and now plays for the New York Jets, said at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe that he “can’t wait to play with him.”
That’s when Adams’ agents quickly moved to quash speculation.
Adams is a Raider — until, perhaps, he isn’t.
The present is what’s on Adams’ mind. He was excited to get started with camp under new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. The two worked together in Green Bay, with Getsy rising to passing game coordinator in 2020-21.
“It feels a little more like the Green Bay years because I’m back in that offense,” Adams said. “I’ve retained, I’d say, 85% of this offense back in ’21. Just having enough familiarity relaxes you a little bit. I’m not stressing as much looking at my notebook before we run back on the field.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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