Two weeks after Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was ruled out for the regular season, Patrick Mahomes & Co. were dealt another severe blow with Rashee Rice’s ACL tear. This string of injuries has now put the defending champions in a precarious situation, making the signing of a wide receiver an urgent priority. So, who better than six-time Pro Bowler, Davante Adams?
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While the grapevine suggests Adams as a potential option, the deal appears too complicated at this point. Over the last few years, the star wideout has been one of the best pass catchers in the NFL. Adding him to the Chiefs roster might be the easiest decision that the Raiders could make to help their arch-rivals achieve a historic three-peat.
So will the Raiders flag off a historic in-season trade of their crown jewel to their biggest divisional rivals? Next to impossible.
In fact, according to Adam Schefter, the Raiders’ management shut down every single trade request for Adams this offseason. Four weeks into the season, the NFL insider also ruled out a move for the wideout.
“As of right now, I don’t see the Raiders trading Davante Adams… The Raiders got multiple inquiries this summer, and they didn’t even entertain the conversation,” said Schefter on The Pat McAfee Show.
While it’s understandable why the Raiders are unwilling to let Adams go, what if the receiver himself wants to leave a potentially sinking ship in Vegas? After all, it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to play with Mahomes & Co. in their current form.
In that case, it’s the salary cap where the Chiefs will truly need to stretch their bandwidth to accommodate the 31-year-old.
According to Spotrac, signing Adams on deadline day would cause a hit of $8.6 million on the receiving team’s salary cap. But it is the 2025 and 2026 salary figures of $36.25 million each [non-gtd] that will be the head-scratcher for any NFL franchise.
From a Raiders’ point of view, sending your stalwarts to divisional rivals is never a good look. However, if they can part with an aging star and also prevent the Chiefs from signing a young talent by trading for an early pick, it wouldn’t be a bad deal for them either.
Keeping all this in mind, a trade for Adams to the Chiefs isn’t an easy deal to pull off. So, it’s best to have a backup name ready. Luckily, there is a host of quality names ready.
Amari Cooper to Kansas City?
Apart from Davante Adams, fans and analysts believe that the KC Chiefs should definitely consider the likes of Amari Cooper, DeAndre Hopkins, and Darius Slayton. The issue, however, with some of these names is that they are on the wrong side of 30.
On a short-term basis, all these names are quality options, but giving away early trade picks would be catastrophic for the Chiefs from a long-term perspective. Especially considering they already have a host of aging stars in their ranks.
So ideally, someone like Cooper, who presents the perfect blend of experience and physicality, should be on the radar of the team.
On top of this, what makes Cooper the most attractive pick of the lot is how financially viable it will be to sign him. As per reports, signing him in a month’s time will only result in a hit of $605,000 on the salary cap.
Signing a player of Amari’s caliber for less than a million would be an incredible deal for any NFL team. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Chiefs take a serious look at the Alabama alum.
Another interesting name that can be an option for the Chiefs is Elijah Moore. However, even Moore just turned 30 this June. So, it will be a tough call for the Chiefs.
