Davante Adams trades with Aaron Rodgers on the horizon, pushing the Jets to land the Raiders receiver

The Las Vegas Raiders will trade Davante Adams well before the November 5th trade deadline, and a deal could even happen as early as next week.

In the meantime, however, sources tell CBS Sports are discussing internally how much of Adams' remaining $13.5 million salary they would be willing to pay back to facilitate a trade for the three-time All-Pro wide receiver.

Sources say the Raiders and general manager Tom Telesco are “stuck” on second-round compensation, and many around the league believe owner Mark Davis is pressuring to get the deal done at that price. Multiple league executives have told CBS Sports that they expect the trade to ultimately be completed with a third-round pick and some changes.

At the top of the list for Adams is the New York Jets, who would reunite Adams with his old Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers for another tryout. General managers around the league believe Adams will end up with the Jets at some point, and sources say the team is his first choice, but it's far from certain he'll get a spot there.

The New Orleans Saints are a legitimate contender for Adams, who would once again team up with his former college and Raiders teammate Derek Carr should he go to New Orleans. According to sources, the Pittsburgh Steelers are among other teams monitoring the situation.

Adams has been at the center of trade rumors since last year, but he only officially requested a trade on Tuesday. Late last week, people in the Raiders building believed his time with the team was coming to an end.

Rodgers has been recruiting Adams for some time, and the Jets were among the teams that called up Adams before the trade deadline last year. But after the Jets' 10-9 home loss to the Broncos, Rodgers stepped up his recruitment of Adams, according to sources.

The Jets were in no rush. Adams' hamstring injury, his salary, the Raiders' compensation claim and the team's trip to London this week were all factors in nothing happening last week. “But the quarterback might be in a rush,” a source said.

The 2-2 Jets rank 18th in passing offense and Rodgers is throwing more passes in under 2.5 seconds at a rate like never before. Third-year receiver Garrett Wilson has 20 catches for 191 yards in four games as his connection to Rodgers has yet to materialize.

Multiple sources questioned what happens to the Rodgers-Wilson dynamic if Adams is added to the mix. “Does it help or make it worse?” a source asked.

If the Jets sign Adams, there are teams around the league that would be interested in one of their receivers. Sources believe Mike Williams, the 30-year-old receiver on a one-year deal who appears to be returning to form after undergoing ACL surgery last year, would be the most likely candidate to move away from the Jets.

One small problem for the Jets is a player who isn't even in their building: Haason Reddick. Because he didn't show up, he currently only counts $750,000 against the cap. But if, for example, he ends his holdout next week, he will then count more than $9 million against the cap.

A trade for Adams last week would have meant the team taking on his remaining $13.5 million in salary. Doing so by the trade deadline would mean $8.6 million. It drops by about $1 million every week.

Almost any team trading for Adams would require the Raiders to buy out a portion of his contract to fit under the salary cap. This would make a trade easier for Las Vegas, in return likely increasing compensation and potentially putting more money in Adam's pockets. By paying his salary from the Raiders, Adams was able to enjoy the tax-free benefits of the great state of Nevada compared to, say, a team from the New York area.

Sources also believe that some level of recruiting will be required to sign Adams, who has never been a free agent before in his career. Rodgers has enjoyed taking the reins with the Jets, while the Saints have Carr and wide receivers coach Keith Williams, who has known Adams since he was a teenager.

“He’ll be able to control where he goes,” one GM said.

Adams technically has two years left beyond 2024, but essentially this season was always going to be the last on his contract. Adams has a base salary of $35.64 million in consecutive years, and both years are non-guaranteed. No team would pay Adams, who turns 32 in December, that much money next year.

So a trade for Adams would only guarantee a one-year rental. A trade team might hope to sign him to a revised contract before a trade, but a general manager who spoke to CBS Sports questioned why Adams would agree to that.

“What if he goes to the Jets and something happens to Rodgers?” the GM said. “He'll probably say everywhere, 'Let me see what it's like here'.”

According to multiple sources, the Raiders had more than one second-round pick on the table for Adams at last year's trade deadline. Davis had no interest in signing Adams, so talks with neither team got far, and the owner fired coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler near the deadline anyway.

Adams' frustrations last year with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo were documented in the Netflix series “Receivers,” and interim coach Antonio Pierce ultimately substituted the veteran for Aidan O'Connell.

Adams was a prominent member of the team that pushed for Pierce to get the permanent role. When Pierce got the job, Davis decided to pair the new coach with an experienced GM in Telesco, who had recently been fired by the Chargers but had never worked with Pierce before.

Pierce was a driving force in pushing Telesco to move up in the 2024 NFL Draft to acquire Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels, whom Pierce had coached years earlier at Arizona State. The Washington Commanders rejected all offers to move from the No. 2 spot and selected Daniels, who is leading the Offensive Rookie of the Year race early on as he sets rookie quarterback records. Even though the Raiders are 2-2, they haven't gotten great quarterback play from Gardner Minshew, who beat out O'Connell for the job in the preseason.

Not helping matters was that Pierce liked an Instagram post earlier this week in which he suggested that Adams had played his final snap as a Raider. Pierce declined to discuss the action on social media, and on Tuesday Adams said he had not spoken to his coach.

Shortly thereafter, Pierce informed his staff that Adams had asked the team for a trade. And as soon as next week he'll have a new NFL home – possibly with an old friend.