Jets finalizing trade for Raiders WR Davante Adams, sources say

Determined to save their season from ruin and preserve their hopes of ending a half-century Super Bowl drought, the New York Jets are finalizing a blockbuster trade for star wide receiver Davante Adams, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

The Las Vegas Raiders will receive a conditional third-round draft pick that could improve to a second-round selection, sources told Schefter. For the pick to improve to a second-rounder, Adams must be a first- or second-team All-Pro this season or be on the Jets’ active roster for the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl, the sources said.

Adams took a red-eye into New Jersey early Tuesday morning with the deal basically in place and is taking a physical to finalize the trade, a source told Schefter.

The Jets are assuming the balance of Adams’ remaining salary, a source told Schefter. Adams’ salary for this season is $17.5 million, with approximately $11.59 million still owed through the end of the season. And while he is under contract for 2025 and 2026, his annual salary jumps to $36.25 million for each of those seasons. The Raiders will carry a dead cap charge of $13.67 million in 2024, according to Spotrac.com, and $15.7 million in 2025.

The trade will reunite Adams with quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the hopes of recreating one of the most dangerous duos in recent NFL history.

Adams, who turns 32 on Dec. 24, is a six-time Pro Bowl selection who achieved his greatest success with Rodgers as his quarterback with the Green Bay Packers. From 2014 to 2021, they combined for 615 completions, 7,529 yards and 68 touchdowns. They were the NFL’s second-most prolific tandem over that span, trailing only Matt Ryan and Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons.

The Jets have been on a win-now mission since acquiring Rodgers from the Packers in 2023, and they’re on a three-game losing streak at 2-4. A Rodgers-Adams reunion seemed inevitable, with Rodgers fanning the flames in July. At a celebrity golf tournament, he said, “I love Davante. I can’t wait to play with him … again.”

Adams’ two-plus seasons in Las Vegas will come to a tumultuous end, with Adams falling out of favor with coach Antonio Pierce and eventually requesting a trade. He identified the Jets as his No. 1 choice, and he got his wish, as the Jets outbid other teams.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas showed interest in Adams at the 2023 trading deadline but was rebuffed by the Raiders. He never lost interest, sources said, checking periodically on Adams’ potential availability. This time, he moved swiftly to get it done.

This move intensifies the pressure on Douglas and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who replaced the fired Robert Saleh last week. The Jets have missed the playoffs for 13 straight seasons, the league’s longest active drought — including the past three under Saleh.

Adams joins a crowded receiving corps that includes emerging star Garrett Wilson, Mike Williams and Allen Lazard. They also have Xavier Gipson, who handles punt and kickoff returns, and rookie Malachi Corley.

Rodgers has compared Wilson to a young Adams. Rodgers and Wilson struggled to connect early in the season, but Wilson is coming off his two most productive games — combining for 21 catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns.

Williams has struggled to produce. In Monday night’s 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Williams ran the wrong route on the Jets’ final play, according to Rodgers. In his postgame news conference, Rodgers said Williams should’ve run a vertical route instead of breaking it off — and the result was an interception. It was the second straight game in which Rodgers’ final pass was intercepted — both targets to Williams.

Adams was initially acquired by the Raiders in a blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers on March 17, 2022, with the Raiders sending first- and second-round draft picks to the Packers so Adams, who grew up in Palo Alto, California, could not only be closer to home after seven seasons in Green Bay, but also reunite with his college quarterback at Fresno State, Derek Carr. But Carr was benched with two games to go in an eventual 6-11 season and was cut that offseason.

Still, Adams was named first-team All-Pro in 2022, catching 100 passes for 1,516 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns. A year later, with  Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer and Aidan O’Connell at quarterback, Adams had 103 catches for 1,144 yards and eight touchdown catches.

With Gardner Minshew at quarterback this season, Adams had 18 receptions for 209 yards and one touchdown in three games. He has missed the Raiders’ past three games because of a hamstring injury.