When wide receiver Davante Adams left the frozen tundra of Green Bay for the blazing sun of the Nevada desert, he had to imagine that his career was about to heat up, too. Unfortunately, the Pro Bowl pass-catcher is beginning to find out that the bright lights of Las Vegas haven’t illuminated his chances of winning the Super Bowl.
Davante Adams in 2018 | SCREENSHOT: ESPN/YouTube
A year and a half into his five-year, $140 million deal with the Raiders, Davante Adams admitted to ESPN recently that his experience has been “not what I wanted,” and intimated that a potential Lombardi Trophy is far from the franchise’s grasp. Coming from Green Bay and having played his entire career with four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback, the Fresno State product was hoping that he would hit a championship jackpot in Vegas. But after a switch from Derek Carr to Jimmy Garoppolo under center – along with the usual Silver and Black circus that comes along with being a Raider – Davante Adams is rethinking his decision in year two.
To be fair, the speedster has not asked for a trade out of Sin City. But, he’s definitely letting his frustrations be known.
“I didn’t really have any expectations,” Davante Adams recently told ESPN. “But (this is) not what I wanted, for sure. Obviously, I wanted to come here and have a big impact, continue to play at a high level, and win games. And a lot of those things have happened — just not the winning part. But I’ve just got to continue to do more and keep demanding greatness and consistency for my teammates. … It’s a gamble sometimes (changing teams). You never really know.”
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“What’s most important to me is going to the Super Bowl,” Davante Adams summarized. “I (went) to four NFC championship games in Green Bay in eight years. So I’ve won a lot of games in the regular season. I’ve got a lot of stats.”
“What I haven’t done is check that box of winning the Super Bowl. I’m trying to create something special here. I can only do so much on my individual end. … You don’t fluke into the Super Bowl; you do it a certain way to win the Super Bowl.”
The Raiders are currently 2-3 and by no means out of the playoff picture this early in the 2023 season. However, they certainly don’t look equipped to face more powerful and potent teams like the Chiefs, Bengals, and Dolphins. Even if they qualify for the postseason? They don’t look like much more than a ‘one-and-done’ squad. And that’s not the oasis in the desert that Davante Adams was hoping for.
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