The Bills and Raiders have been rumored in a Davante Adams trade all offseason
We’re more than halfway through Buffalo Bills training camp, but despite that, one national NFL analyst is still trying to make a Davante Adams trade happen. Listen, I get that in a vacuum it makes sense for the Bills and Las Vegas Raiders, but it’s not really a possibility.
Adams is only due $17 million in cash this year, and the Bills could pay that. He doesn’t have any guaranteed money beyond this year, so Buffalo could cut him without keeping him until he’s 33 and 34. Trading a decent asset and paying him that much for a one-year rental has merits, I guess, and general manager Brandon Beane has done it before so it’s not crazy.
The problem is that for the trade to happen, one or both teams would have to be seriously motivated to make the move because it would be a very heavy lift. Adams is seemingly not putting pressure on the Raiders for that and the Bills haven’t shown to be desperate in camp. As always, it comes down to contracts.
Seth Walder, the ESPN analytics author of the article, says the Bills can just pay Adams a signing bonus to restructure the deal and fit him under the cap, but you can’t do that until he is on the roster because he is currently under contract and you trade the contract with the player. The league won’t certify a trade that puts the Bills over the salary cap, so one or both teams would need to make other moves.
In order for the trade to be completed, Adams’ right-now cap hit would have to be below the $8 million in cap space the Bills have now. Buffalo could add $6 million in cap space with a restructure for Josh Allen, but I don’t really want to do that since his future cap hits are already so high. Similarly, they could chip away at the difference with restructures of Matt Milano, Dion Dawkins, Ed Oliver, and Taron Johnson to get there. They could fit Adams by further borrowing on the proverbial credit card in 2025 and beyond.
The Raiders could also pay Adams money before the trade in a bonus to bring his number down. They aren’t going to do that unless Buffalo gives them a darn good reason in terms of higher draft capital, or Adams gives them a reason to just rid themselves of his services.
So beyond the cap, cash, and contract moves that would have to be made before the deal could take place, Walder continues making weird suggestions when talking about the trade compensation. He thinks the Bills should send the second-round pick they received from the Houston Texans in exchange for Stefon Diggs. So what the hell was the point of making the deal if you’re going to trade one aging vet receiver for another?
Anyway, I thought this conversation was over when camp started but apparently it’s not. Like Brandon Beane, I’m not convinced the Bills need an alpha receiver to be successful in 2024. The multi-step gymnastics to make it happen at this point seem pretty daunting, as they have all along.