Coming off an 8-9 season, the Las Vegas Raiders have to feel good about their prospects in 2024. They officially made Antonio Pierce the full-time head coach while adding notable players like defensive tackle Christian Wilkins and tight end Brock Bowers.
However, the margin for error will be thin for the Raiders. Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report recently went over every NFL team’s nightmare scenario for the 2024 season and the Raiders’ involves star wide receiver Davante Adams.
“Davante Adams continues to decline, two young elite tight ends proves superfluous, and their two backup-caliber quarterbacks perform like backup-caliber quarterbacks,” Gagnon wrote in a June 5 column.
Adams is the Raiders’ second most expensive player with a $25.3 million cap hit in 2024. He had 1,144 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2023, which are very good numbers, but are both the lowest he’s put up since 2019. Now, the Raiders had inconsistent quarterback play last season so that could be the reason for the dip in numbers. That said, the team still doesn’t appear to have a stable quarterback situation so it could remain unclear if his dip in numbers is due to him or aging or due to the quarterbacks.
Davante Adams Rated as 6th-Best WR in NFL
Though he didn’t put up huge numbers in 2023, Adams is still widely considered one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. Sam Monson recently went through and ranked the wide receivers in the league and Adams came in at No. 6.
“At 31 years old, Davante Adams is entering the gray area where we need to decide how much of his decline last season was due to age and how much to his quarterback situation,” Monson wrote in the May 21 column. “He still caught over 100 passes but averaged almost half a yard per route run less than the year before. His drop rate was up, and his contested catch rate was down. He remains arguably the best route-runner in football.”
Adams was ranked No. 1 in the same rankings heading into last season so he did fall down a bit but he’s still an elite player. Adams’ dead cap hit drops from $40.4 million to $15.7 million next season so the team could have a tough decision to make if he continues to decline this season.
Davante Adams’ Numbers Could Be Down Even if He’s Not on Decline
If Adams’ numbers continue to decline in 2024, that isn’t necessarily a referendum on him. The Raiders have a lot of mouths to feed on offense. Outside of Adams, the team has two highly-drafted tight end in Bowers and Michael Mayer. They also have Jakobi Meyers on the roster.
If the Raiders had an elite quarterback, he might be able to get all the playmakers numbers but the team doesn’t even have a starting quarterback set. That doesn’t necessarily mean the team will be bad on offense. There are a lot of good pieces on the offense right now but it will be difficult for Adams to put up the same gawdy numbers he’s accustomed to. If the Raiders are winning, that shouldn’t be a problem but if they struggle, it won’t take long for Adams to get frustrated.
