Vincent, thank you for taking the time to join us.
You got it, thank you for having me. Now we saw this just kind of pop up and it feels like the writing has been on the wall even dating back to training camp where there were rumors of Devante moving and it was always, no he's not going, oh I'm not going anywhere. How did we get to this point? Are you surprised?
No, no, no, I'm not surprised. I couldn't, you know, you're going all the way back to when Derek Carr, you know, one of the principal reasons why Devante Adams came to Las Vegas to play for the Raiders and to play for the Raiders team that he grew up rooting for and be closer to his, you know, Northern California base where his family was able to come down and watch games, you know, every time they played in Las Vegas. Was also to play with Derek Carr, his good friend and former Fresno State teammate. So, but going back to when Derek Carr was ultimately moved on from, you know, from the Raiders, so that obviously removed one of the components that even brought Devante here to the Raiders from pretty much from that moment on while Devante was always on board, wanted it to work, was determined to be part of the reason why the Raiders got turned around, you know, his childhood team, all of those reasons. He was willing to give it time and to see if this was going to work, you know, but at the same time, there was always an underlying sense of, but I'll give it time, just in my reporting anyway, but at some point it could get to a point where, you know what, this just isn't working.
And he always reserved the right to change his mind and say, look, you know, it's just not working. And I only have X number of years left in my career. I want to maximize those remaining years that I have left to play. And doing that means competing for championships and playing important games and being on teams where I could help get to the playoffs. And that's not happened here with the Raiders and the dubious that it's going to happen this year, which would be a third wasted year at the tail end of his career.
So he always reserved the right to say, you know what, it's not working. And even in my reporting, and I wrote this literally the day after Carr got moved on from, or benched. And I think at that, in my reporting, said if he ever made that call to the Raiders, there's good enough will between the team and the Raiders where they would accommodate him. And so it's taken a little time and that represents the, you know, the heart that, that, that Devontae has had in this and trying to get this turned around, but it kind of came to a point, I think where maybe some other issues play into it, but primarily Devontae looked at the future with the Raiders here this year. And it doesn't look like, you know, what he wants it to look like in terms of, look, we're going to be playing in the playoffs.
We're going to be going knocking on the door of the Super Bowl. We're one of those teams. It's just not happening.
And for those reasons, I think he's kind of gotten to the point where, you know, it's time to move on. So it's not really a surprise. I wouldn't say that it was inevitable that it would get to this point, but certain things didn't happen in terms of the quarterbacks that the Raiders would have loved to have had in here, i.e. a Jayden Daniels, maybe a Tom Brady, you know, that, that year after moving on from Derek Carr, things haven't worked out at quarterback. And that's a big reason why they haven't had the success that they've wanted. And so, yeah, Devontae has gotten to that point, which was always a possibility.
Vincent Bonsignor is joining us from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Why this, this week and this time specifically? I think anybody could have looked at their quarterback situation over the summer.
People could have looked at the rumors. Why this week, why these past few days after a victory against the Browns? Is it something to do with the injury?
Why now? You know, that's a great question. And, you know, based on my reporting, the relationship between Antonio and Devontae hasn't been going so well. I'll just, you know, kind of leave it at that. So I think that, I think that that's played something, you know, into it. And, you know, there's been some peculiarities, I would say, going all the way back to training camp when Devontae, you know, was out for two weeks for a great reason.
It was the birth of his son, but that seemed unusually long for that. Then, you know, they were at odds on whether he would play in the last preseason game. You know, Antonio Pierce said, well, if you're healthy, you're going to play. And at that point, Devontae was healthy.
And literally the next day, he's out of practice with some sort of a leg issue and didn't play. And so there was, you could tell that there was a little bit of a tug of war going on right there between the player and the coach. And I also wouldn't rule out, you know, some of the recent comments that, that Antonio has made, specifically the business decisions being made on the field against the Panthers a couple of weeks ago. That may have rubbed Devontae the wrong way. And so, so I do think that, that the deterioration of their relationship has also kind of contributed, maybe expedited the whole thing.
But I wouldn't say that would be the sole reason. I think, I think it was kind of the way the team has been constructed, the way they kind of struck out on going and tried, they tried to trade to go get Jayden Daniels. That was the guy that the Raiders really wanted, but it was, it was really hard and really, to not even put it hard, it was impossible to move from 13 to number two, which is where the Washington commanders were.
There was no way that they were going to trade that far down. They loved Jayden just as much as the Raiders did. So when certain things didn't work out on the quarterback front, now you have this deteriorating relationship between Antonio and Devontae. That may have been, you throw all of that together and it may have gotten to a point where, why are we even wasting our time?
And I would say this too. This isn't just a Devontae thing. I think that there's mutual interest in moving on. And so, whether it was Devontae came to them first and said that you've referred to a trade, or as I reported early yesterday, the Raiders being more open to trading Devontae Adams and already starting to make some calls to gauge interest around him in the league.
It felt kind of like they arrived at the same exact place at the same exact time. Wow. Hey Vincent, I love a good beef. Thank you for breaking it down. I appreciate that.
I love that. Now, speaking of Antonio Pierce, we heard him today play the, I don't know nothing. We're on to Denver.
I don't know social media, nothing. I'm on for Denver. Is he rehabbing here in the building? He's supposed to be. We're on to Denver.
How is he being received? A, by the fan base. And then also the locker room right now. This is early to have a beef when you just became a head coach full time.
Yeah, no doubt about it. I think today, the way he handled everything today, while it was probably frustrating for the fans who want all those juicy little details and for people like ourselves that appreciate the honesty that he's had, you know, and the frankness that he speaks with. But I actually think, you know, looking at this logically and honestly, and putting myself in the shoes of others, I thought he handled, I thought the way he handled today, which was to basically say, I'm not answering your questions, I'm on to the Denver Broncos. And that's what we're going to talk about today. I'm not going to talk about Devante Adams or the other social media posts or anything like that.
We're moving on to Denver. I thought was some growth on the part of Antonio Pierce. It's great that he spoke with brutal honesty sometimes. But I think that he needed to understand that he can't always say whatever pops into your head as the CEO of a team.
And you're responsible for 53 men in a locker room. And depending on what you're saying out there at the podium, you know, might be construed a certain way or taken a certain way, you know, or received in a certain way of, okay, you could have just told me that you didn't have to announce it to the entire world, right? And I think he's learned that lesson a little bit. And look, in Antonio's defense, he's been completely honest about the fact since the day he got this job, I don't have all the answers. I'm new to this. There's going to be a learning curve.
I'm going to try to get better as we go along here. But I'm not, I don't have all the answers right now. This is all new to him, you know, being the head coach.
And I mean, he was he was a linebackers coach for one and a half years in the NFL before he got the head coaching job. So for anyone to not think that there was going to be a little bit of a learning curve that was naive on their part. And nobody really that that covers the team thought that there aren't going to be some missteps along the way. And so I frankly, I've seen some growth, even as the week went on last week, as he as he sort of, you know, dealt with the aftermath of the business decisions questions by the end of the week, everything was looked at between my team and myself. And then even on Sunday after the game, he apologized for even starting the firestorm. That was kind of self inflicted by even mentioning that publicly that there were some players that were making some business decisions, right? So within a week's time, I think he kind of came to the realization like, I can't just say whatever popped into my head. So as frustrating as it might be for the bandaids and for media members, I thought what he did today and handled the way he handled today, it today was a sign of growth on his part. Vincent is he going to delete Instagram off his phone? Or is he going to use Instagram in the future?
He should probably that's probably your your your your best bet. And look, I don't know what happened. You know, with the with that whole social social media post, it seems like you liked it, you know, I'll say that. But look, plenty of us have been have been scrolling, you know, on on Twitter, let's just say and I know that I've liked things that I like, I wasn't trying.
I was just my thumb was pushing that thing as fast as I could. Right. And so let's be honest, right? I know you've done it too. You probably lying if you said you didn't. No, not yet. Not yet. Not yet. I've said some things not yet. And it is an honest mistake.
Now. I'm not saying that that's what happened. But I'm also not saying I know definitively that he meant to do that. Right. You know, and so. But the best way to protect yourself against that happening is just don't even bother doing it.
You know, don't bother looking at things on social media, whether it's ID or X or whatever the case might be. Just focus on what you have to do. And that's, you know, coaching your football team. Vincent Bonson, you're joining us from the Las Vegas Review Journal. Eventually, Davante is going to move. Is it going to be another, you know, month until the trade deadline?
You know, what do they get in return? We don't know. What do you believe the rest of this season is going to look like for the Raiders? This is Brock Bowers' time now, isn't it?
Yeah. Well, here's the other part of it that we haven't even gotten into. The Raiders got a close view of life without Davante on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, and it wasn't all that bad. You know, what's interesting about this is if you go all the way back to when Davante joined the Raiders, their offense actually digressed. And I'm not putting that on Davante at all. The quarterback play has been the primary culprit there. But even Derek struggled at times with the spectrum of such a huge focal point to your offense, right? Between the money that Davante Adams makes, his stature in an offense. Every week you go into a game as a coaching staff and really as a quarterback, and it's impossible to get this out of your head in real time when you're playing. You know, you've got to get 17, let's say 15 targets a game, right?
10 to 15 targets a game. That's like priority number one. And whether they want to admit it or not, that is the case. And so there were times where it just felt forced. Sometimes you feel obligated. You got to get Davante involved in this game ASAP. And for various reasons, he's Davante Adams. He's great.
He makes a lot of money. If he's not getting touches, you're probably going to hear about that a little bit, you know? And so that's just a thought that goes into every game. Well, that thought was no longer there, present on Sunday.
And guess what? A whole bunch of dudes touched the ball. It looked fluid in a lot of ways. There's a lot that they need to clean up without question, but you can sense and you can feel that the Raiders were playing with a little bit more of a freedom to just be able to spread the ball around organically as it came, who had the hot hand, what players were working rather than doing that.
And then also understanding how to get the ball to number 17. So they saw that up close and personal and it really didn't look bad. And so I think that gives them a little bit of confidence moving forward. Not to say that they're a better team without Davante, but it could be different.
And in some ways it could be a little bit better without that burden. And there is talent on this team. Brock Bowers is a stud. Jay Tucker is a heck of a football player. Jacoby Myers was the Patriots' leading receiver the two years prior to him joining the Raiders. We talked to him today. He's like, I'm used to being the guy. I know that the ball got spread around a lot in New England when he was there, but he was their number one receiver for a couple of years.
So he's played that role before. Michael Mayer will eventually come back and he's another piece to that puzzle. So I think they understand that we could probably survive without Davante, get something for him. And this season doesn't have to be, this isn't a situation where you're just throwing in the talent. They feel like they can compete and win games with or without Davante Adams.
And it's just, that's a whole other issue. It means them playing not near perfect football, but checking off all the necessary boxes that a team that's at this talent level across the board and with that quarterback, they're just necessary boxes that you have to check off. They do that against the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Raiders and won.
They didn't against the Carolina Panthers at all in any phase and they got the roof blown off of them. And so they know that what it could look like if they don't check off those boxes and what it looks like when they do check off those boxes. So this doesn't have to be dire strikes.
It will be more of a challenge for sure, but it doesn't have to be dire strikes. And I don't think that it's going to take that long to make a deal. I don't think the Raiders want this to linger. I don't think Davante wants this to linger. And I think there's teams out there that are motivated to get him on their team as quickly as possible. What do you think he ends up, Vince? Last question.
That's a great question. Part of me says, if you're in the New York Jets and you're Aaron Rodgers and you're Joe Douglas and Robert Sala and Sala and Joe Douglas, if they don't win, they're probably going to be out of a job. And you know that the star quarterback wants them and you know Davante probably would love to be there. How can you, as the Jets, and I'm sure their fan base right now is pretty fired up about the possibility of getting Davante and he would make a difference on that team. And this is a wide open AFC, maybe outside of the Kansas City Chiefs. There's a lot of teams that are bunched up and probably on par with one another in terms of talent. But if you're the Jets, how can you let him get traded someplace else?
I'm not saying overpay for him, but don't you have to probably put the best offer out there for him or top whatever the offer is, even by a little bit, to make sure that you keep him or get him to New York and keep him out of the hands of the Buffalo Bills who are also interested. There's a few other teams in the AFC that are. So I'd have to say the Jets are the favorites only because there's so much motivation for them to improve on any offer in order to make sure that he goes there to New York where he probably wants to go, or one of the places that he wants to be in a ready-made situation with Aaron Rodgers. But if not there, I could see the Buffalo Bills, I could see the Pittsburgh Steelers, I could see the New Orleans Saints jumping in there. So I don't think there's going to be a lack of teams that are interested.
It will be tricky. You know, you're talking about teams that have to have $13 million under this cap to be able to fit his current deal in there. Plus, you know, there's teams in October that just don't have money in the budget to be able to find $13 million to pay him.
So somebody is probably going to have to have a conversation with their owner to say, hey, what do you think about De Adams? I love him. Great.
What do you think about us trading for him? That would be great. Just so you know, I need another $13 million in the budget. What?
You didn't mention that part. You know, you're going to have to have that conversation with the owner. And there's probably some that would be alright for Devante Adams. I'll give you that $13 million. But there's probably some others that are like, no, we don't have the money. Now the Raiders can help appease a deal if they agree to pay down some of that salary. Think about the Denver Broncos a couple of years ago with Los Angeles Rams. The Rams were, you know, at that point out of cash and, you know, up against it on the salary cap. But they told the Denver Broncos, look, if you pay the salary down, we'll give you a second and a third round pick for a 32-year-old Von Miller who was just a rental for the Los Angeles Rams.
And they won the Super Bowl that year. So that's one way that the Raiders, if Mark Davis and ownership is willing to pay down some of that salary, they could probably help create an even bigger market and maybe create more of a return for themselves as well. Let's see how creative Mark Davis and Enzo Lesko can be. Hey, Vincent, where can people follow you in all of your work, man?
Filisan? Yeah, vegasnation.com is where, you know, where all my written work can be found. It's Las Vegas Review Journal. We call it vegasnation.com. I'm also on Raider Nation Radio 920 a.m. locally or lvsportsnetwork.com, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific Time. I co-host the radio show, the Morning Tailgate show out on Raider Nation Radio. So that would be where you could find me. Hey, Vincent, I appreciate the time. I know the raid is going to keep you busy, okay? Always. Thank you very much.
