Financial aspect makes trade for Davante Adams a tall task for Packers

There were a few specific reasons that Davante Adams wanted to leave the Green Bay Packers for the Las Vegas Raiders. One of which was that he wanted to once again team up with his former college teammate and best friend, Derek Carr.

However, on Wednesday, Raiders’ head coach Josh McDaniels decided to bench Carr in favor of Jarrett Stidham, and reports later followed that Las Vegas would look to trade or even release Carr in the offseason.

This, of course, sparked a lot of conversation about how the Packers could try to bring Adams back to Green Bay. In theory, it’s a terrific thought; who wouldn’t want Adams back with the Packers? Many of the problems that the offense has experienced this season can be traced back to the passing game. But because of the financials, this is not a realistic idea either.

Believe it or not, the financial issues that come with this trade don’t have a lot to do with the Packers. As Ken Ingalls points out, Green Bay could make it work with Adams due just $24 million over the next two seasons. But for the Raiders, they would face a dead cap hit of $31.4 million in 2023, or roughly eight percent of their total cap space.

On the flip side, keeping Adams only costs them $14.49 million in cap space. In total, between Adams’ signing bonus for his new deal and his base salary this season, the Raiders would have paid him almost $43 million for just one year, according to Over the Cap–a very hefty price tag for even the game’s top receiver.

Granted, this situation is different than most, given that Adams had spent his entire career in Green Bay, but even if he did become available, giving up multiple high draft picks in a trade for a player also goes very much against the grain for the Packers and how they typically operate.

But again, because of the financial side of things for the Raiders, I don’t think it gets to that point–unless Las Vegas is going to start from scratch and has zero regards for the 2023 season.