Detroit Lions fans all tuned into Netflix’s latest collaboration with the NFL this summer when Receiver dropped. Amon-Ra St. Brown was a very large part of the series and there was a lot to take away from that show.
Aside from St. Brown, one thing that was very hard to miss was the frustration that Raiders’ receiver Davante Adams had most of the 2023 season. It was especially hard to miss in the segment where the Raiders played the Lions on Monday Night Football. That was a bad night to be Davante Adams.
Now here we are a few months later and Adams has officially asked for a trade after a very rough season for the Raiders so far. It probably didn’t help that Antonio Pierce liked a post on Instagram about the Raiders trading him.
So becasue I know Lions fans will ask, we’re going to get out ahead of this one and put this story out. We’ll answer if the Lions can afford it and what a proposal might look like.
We’ll start on the cost end. From a trade standpoint, it might not be that much considering that Adams is going to be 32-years-old this season and this is going to be a cost cutting move for the Raiders. Here’s a proposal:
Lions get: Davante Adams
Raiders get: 2026 third-round and 2025 fifth-round pick
This is based off a few things. The first one being the Bears trade for Keenan Allen. It sort of sets the market for what some of the older receivers are going for right now. The Bears got Allen for a 2024 fourth-round pick. Since Adams is a bit better than Allen, he’s going to draw more. Two day three picks is not a bad deal for the Raiders.
His 2024 salary is guaranteed, but 2025 and 2026 aren’t, so the Raiders could get massive cap savings by moving off of him. That’s why they may be hasty to do it considering it would hurt them in the near future. The ball is sort of in the trade partner’s court in that scenario. The Bears just showed that when they were able to get Allen for just that fourth-round pick. The Chargers needed him off the books.
The Lions would wind up taking on his $16.9 million base salary this season, but then they would have to do some work to make sure they can restructure his deal going forward. He’s on the hook for $35 million in 2025 and 2026.
While Lions fans have grown accustom to what they thing Lions GM Brad Holmes will do and they’re probably commenting on this story right now without reading it, Holmes has made comments recently that point to a time in which the Lions may let loose and start being “selective” in their process like Holmes and Ray Agnew (Lions assistant GM) watched their former boss and mentor Les Snead do with the Rams. This is absolutely a move Snead would have made ahead of 2020.
This is a Super Bowl move for the Lions right here. With that said, I still don’t see them making this one happen. Even if the team can totally afford it right now. It’s just not the kind of contract you want on the books at the moment. The Raiders will have no problem finding a trade partner, but I would be shocked if they got much more than what we laid out, Even if they want more.