Raiders owner Mark Davis talked about the tumultuous week in Las Vegas when Davante Adams joined the Jets.
While the departure of a top Raiders player would certainly be seen as a tough one for most organizations, Davis told NFL.com. He said he didn't expect the past week to be so difficult.
Simply put, Davis told the media he was “used to it.”
“I've grown up in this sport,” he said. “There's a business side and a football side of the building. The football side is tough love, dude. I've seen my best friend…Cliff Branch, he had to retire. I've seen all these guys, and at some point they tell me I have to hang up and this and that. You get really tough, thick skin.”
Davis, who also saw Tom Brady's partial ownership of the team approved last week, believes the locker room will be fine with Adams' departure.
The Raiders hosted the Rams in their first game after trading their star wide receiver, but they appear to have lost quarterback Aiden O'Connell to a broken thumb.
“Once you get into the locker room, you understand what the message is,” Davis said. “You'll have to ask them. But I'm sure there's no problem. Yes, I know the players are accepting it just fine.”
The Raiders traded Adams to the Jets for a conditional third-round draft pick in 2025, ending weeks of confusion over Adams' well-being in Las Vegas.
The trade that sent the six-time Pro Bowler back to the desert occurred when the Raiders sent a first- and second-round pick to Green Bay in exchange for the three-time All-Pro selection in 2022. .
It also offered hope that the Raiders could create championship chemistry between Adams and then-QB Derek Carr.
Kerr, who Adams played with at Cal, signed with the Saints as a free agent in the offseason.
In retrospect, Davis had a relatively simple explanation for why things went wrong.
“Unfortunately it didn't work out. That's the only way I can sum it up,” he said.
