If the Las Vegas Raiders trade WR Davante Adams, it’s unlikely to occur over the next few days. ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes it’ll be roughly another week before any resolution to his situation occurs. Appearing on the Pat McAfee show Wednesday, Schefter said the window to trade Adams this week has likely passed.
“Here’s where it stands in my mind,” Schefter told the show. “We’re now in Wednesday afternoon, 1:15 eastern. The fact there has been no Davante Adams trade this week would tell you any Davante Adams trade will wait another week now. Because in the NFL, most every big move…is going to occur Monday and Tuesday while teams are coming up with their game plans.”
That’s a fair assessment. Trading for Adams this late in the week would make it hard to get him ready for a Week 6 game. However, that might be a moot point considering Adams still seems to be dealing with a hamstring injury. Perhaps that can change the trade window if Adams is assumed to be out this week even if he were to be dealt to a new team.
Overall, trades of this magnitude happen on Monday or Tuesday. The Steelers and Miami Dolphins agreed to a deal for FS Minkah Fitzpatrick on a Monday night and even then, Fitzpatrick was in a race to get up to speed for the Steelers’ next game.
Other factors could be slowing Adams’ market down. He’s been linked to the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, two teams that have had major storylines the last 24 hours. The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh while Saints QB Derek Carr is expected to miss multiple weeks with an oblique injury suffered in a Monday night loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders are also reportedly hesitant to eat some of Adams’ salary to help facilitate a trade, though they will continue to pay his base salary while he sits out.
All those factors suggest that the Steelers could have a stronger hand. It’s not clear if they’re willing to meet the Raiders’ second-round asking price but they have a need for receiver and desire to boost their sputtering offense. As usual, media reports have been hard to trust. Last week, the prevailing wisdom was a trade would occur this week. Now, we’ll likely wait until next Monday or Tuesday to see if anything gets done.
