Mike Florio and Chris Simms analyze whether Davante Adams is justified in not seeing eye-to-eye with the Raiders front office and weigh in on the team’s chances to win a Super Bowl.

Video Transcript

MIKE FLORIO: And that's the problem, now he's stuck. He went to Vegas last year to prove to the world that he is a high-end receiver, first team all-pro without Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball. And now Derek Carr is gone, Jimmy Garoppolo is in, and this is something, and I give Pete credit here. everybody else was locking on to the Rodgers' aspect of "The Ringer" column, but like so many of these other interviews, there's more, a gem or two hidden, if you have the patience to sift through the word salad.

And I'm not being critical here because I understand that there are folks in the business who like to write lengthy articles, and there are reasons for it, and some people like to read it. From my perspective, I'm just looking for the news. I don't need the flowery setting of the scene. I just want news, news, news, news, news.

And sometimes, news, news, news isn't obvious. It's obvious at the top with Aaron Rodgers, and then you got to pay attention to the rest of it, but there's a reward there, there's a Tootsie Roll center of the Tootsie Pop because he said some stuff about the Raiders. And if I'm Josh McDaniels or Dave Ziegler, the coach and GM respectively, of the Raiders, I'm thinking, man, well, what the hell is going on here?

One comment was, "we got to figure out the big picture. The front office thinks this is the best bet for us right now to put us in a position to be urgent. We don't see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now." I mean, that's just kind of casually thrown out there.

"we don't see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now." At the time of the year where everybody is 0-0, and everything is awesome, and the arrows pointing up, that's not the kind of statement you want coming from one of your best players.

CHRIS SIMMS: No, no, I mean, not. It is. It's kind of a jarring statement, 100%. I think especially if you just see it alone or maybe don't know Davante Adams or know about him at all. Like, listen, I've never-- I don't know Davante Adams, but I know people up in Green Bay and with the Raiders. Damn, I mean, he's got the utmost respect from everybody.

You're talking about a pro's pro. A guy that loves the game. He's great in the locker room. He does all that.

I think the Raiders and Josh McDaniels, one, they empowered him, of course, by the trade and how much money they got him. I think Josh McDaniels learned from his first head coaching job with the Denver Broncos, hey, wait, relationship with star receiver who ain't afraid to talk is very important, and in that little issue he had with Brandon Marshall there in Denver. So there was that.

And I think the new Josh McDaniels has let Davante Adams have a word. Hey, what do you think? What do you think about the team? We're going to do this, that. And they've let him have a say, or at least informed him of what is going on. And that is I think a part of the new Josh McDaniels approach and what the Raiders are doing. But obviously, they didn't listen to him. And Davante is OK with it, but yeah, he had a different vision, and I'm dying to know what that different vision is, or at least in his mind.

MIKE FLORIO: "I'm going to have to buy into this and try to be as optimistic as possible." Yeesh. "It's not what I expected to happen, but it's something that's the reality now." And I think a lot of it, it has to go back to Derek Carr out and Jimmy Garoppolo in. And Jimmy Garoppolo's style of play, throwing the ball outside the numbers, isn't that one of your big criticisms of him? He doesn't throw the ball outside the numbers enough, it's all down the middle?

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: That's kind of Shanahan, but it's also what Garoppolo has done with Shanahan. And here's Davante Adams outside the numbers, he doesn't want that to have to become a running back to be successful with Jimmy Garoppolo as the quarterback. So he may have had a wish list of quarterbacks.

CHRIS SIMMS: It sounds like it or something.

MIKE FLORIO: More than a few available this year. And Jimmy G may have been at the bottom of that wish list.

CHRIS SIMMS: Maybe. I mean, certainly. I mean, that's what it seems like, as far as there was a wish list or he had a vision of another quarterback that he thought could get them over the hump, you know. But who is that? Aaron Rodgers, and then, I mean, what were the so much better options than Jimmy Garoppolo, right?

That's what I'm just wondering. I mean, we know Derek Carr wasn't a part of the equation because they got rid of him, and that was it, but who else out there is like, was going to make Davante Adams feel that much better? I guess that's where I'm very intrigued. Garoppolo, I know he's not--

MIKE FLORIO: I doubt that--

CHRIS SIMMS: Right. Go ahead, go ahead.

MIKE FLORIO: I doubt he was advocating for a trade for Lamar Jackson. They could have, I guess, tried to trade for Matthew Stafford. That's one of the worst kept secrets. The Rams were kind of wishing, and hoping, and praying that someone would make them an offer for Matthew Stafford so they could get out from under that awful contract they gave him after they won the Super Bowl.

What about Tom Brady? What about Brady? Who's reportedly going to own part of the team. Would Brady fit Davante Adams' style better than Jimmy G?

CHRIS SIMMS: Yes. I mean, Brady's, of course, I mean, he's Brady. He's still pushed the ball down the field, right? I mean, that's the thing I was amazed by Brady. You heard me the last few years. It's just, I can't get over how aggressive he became as a thrower.

But you know, I think with the Raiders too, yeah, they were a little bit like, hey, we know that's only a one-year rental, and we're not sure what's going to happen there. I don't know, but that would-- yeah, I would say it's a better option, for sure, definitely.

But the advantage here is Garoppolo is going to know more of the offense, this one, than Derek Carr, at least, right? So you can look at it and go, wait, I had 1,800 yards last year, and man, I had a handful of games where I was open a bunch more and the quarterback didn't get it to me.

And Garoppolo knows this offense more than not only where he's going to know where I am and where everybody is, but they'll probably to get into more in-depth aspects of the playbook here because of Garoppolo's prior knowledge to that as well from where they were with Carr. So in a lot of ways, again, I wouldn't be shocked to see him have the same stats and output as last year. I wouldn't be shocked at all. I mean, he's going to be the focal point of that offense, that's for sure.

MIKE FLORIO: Then there's a question of winning, of being competitive.

CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah, let's get into that.

MIKE FLORIO: They are in a tough division in the conference where all the great teams currently are, but for the 49ers and the Eagles. He said of a rebuild, I don't have enough time for that. My goal is to win a Super Bowl with this team, and that's why I didn't come here to just be cute with Derek. It is to really try and have a shot, and change this organization.

I don't know that he's got enough time to do it. I think he's got two years left, the way his contract is structured, and then his salary spikes to like 35 million. I think they're going to do two more years, and it's going to be see you later, Davante, unless he's willing to take a lot less money. So this is it for him. He's got two seasons.

Do you really see the Raiders turning it around, in that division, in that conference, in two years and becoming a Super Bowl contender? I think that's more of a job than anyone could pull off that.

CHRIS SIMMS: That's where I think I have maybe a little problem with some of his comments, right? I don't think-- I don't come away from this and go, oh, the Raiders have a Davante Adams problem, right? I think Davante Adams is just one of those guys that he speaks freely, he's pretty well thought out. That's what his honest feeling was, and he throws it out there.

He's at work today and going to work hard and be the ultimate professional. That's all I've ever heard about the guy, right? I mean, you know I have relationships with some of those Raiders people. I mean, he's the ultimate worker. So I don't think it's an issue that way.

Now where I will throw the challenge flag at Davante Adams a little bit is to go kind of where you're going here. All right, he talked about he had this year of, wait, I proved it without Rodgers. I'm the man. I don't need Rodgers. That seemed to be pretty high up on important things for Davante Adams.

Salary, the money, the contract, all that, of course, that was very important too. You could not have looked at the Raiders in that process before you were traded there and gone, Super Bowl's coming in the next year or two. There's no way. You chose stats and money, all right. Then you got to hang in there with the vision of the football team.

That's what you chose. That's what you chose. You could not, no freaking way, have looked at the Raiders and gone, wait, coaching change, we know this new coach wants to run things a lot different, and there's going to be roster turnover. We're not going to the Super Bowl this year or next year, and then in the AFC West, like you said.

So that's where I want to go a little bit like, hey, man, you can't have it all. I mean, you chose to be at home closer to your family, get big time money, and prove, which is very important, as you've laid out here in this article of "The Athletic," that you wanted to show the people that you were the man without Aaron Rodgers.

And now you want the team to win the Super Bowl and listen to you at quarterback and all of that. That's just a lot. That's the only thing I'll challenge about all of it.

MIKE FLORIO: And I agree with you. Look, he picked a spot where he could show that I'm him, and what better place to do it than where there's a quarterback who already knows me, a quarterback who's already friendly with me. This works out perfectly. I go there, I know I'm going to get the ball, I'm going to be able to prove. It's going to be easier for me to prove that I can get it done without Aaron Rodgers.

Lesser quarterback, but a quarterback I know. So I have a little inside track to get what I want there. Took the money and wanted to be close to family, that was important to him.

CHRIS SIMMS: Which he can't act like-- he can't act like this was some sort of a dream team architecture, where he was trying to find the perfect spot.

MIKE FLORIO: Like we see quarterbacks do. Like Tom Brady went over to the Buccaneers. He didn't go there because he wanted to live in Tampa. He went there because he wanted to win a Super Bowl without Bill Belichick, and he picked his spot, and it worked.

So you're right, now Davante Adams has checked the box, prove that I'm me, I'm him without Aaron Rodgers. Checked the box, got a big pile of money. Checked the box, near my family. You can't check that next box. You're not going to be able to check that next box. I mean, it just--

CHRIS SIMMS: You can't have it all. Right.

MIKE FLORIO: It's one of the realities of having that many great teams, that many great quarterbacks in the division, in the conference. It's going to take a lot, and it's unrealistic, and you're going to drive yourself crazy if you demand that in the next two years, you're going to get your hand on the side of the Lombardi Trophy.

CHRIS SIMMS: That's right. That's all I'm saying. That's the only thing I'll challenge. And you know, hey, I'm certainly not mad at him for going there and proving he's the man, and living by his family, and getting paid, and all that. That's awesome. But yeah, when you do things for that reason there, yeah, usually the other stuff doesn't always line up exactly how you want it as well. That's all I'm saying in that department. And he's got to hang in there.

And hey, he's valued, for sure. We know that. McDaniels knows how to use a guy like Davante Adams. I mean, this is a guy that can run routes like Wes Welker or Julian Edelman, but he's a much bigger human being and much faster straight away.

So he's got way more to offer, and that's where it's just endless. And that offense, in my experience, and knowing the Josh McDaniels offense, I mean, he's got everything, every route in the world. And they have a lot of rules, and Davante Adams is really smart.

But yeah, the Raiders, I mean, Mike, let's talk about the Raiders. I mean, I would go-- the Raiders make the playoffs, it's a huge victory for the year, like, wow, unbelievable, right? Like you said, the state of their team, where they're at, AFC West, all of that. It'd be like, I'd be if I'm Davante Adams going, hey, it's two years from now where hopefully we can set ourselves up to be a real Super Bowl contender, but that's not going to happen this year.

MIKE FLORIO: Yeah, look, I agree. I think playoffs are an uphill--

CHRIS SIMMS: Uphill, exactly. That's what I'm saying. That's a huge victory, right? Yeah.

MIKE FLORIO: Yeah, it's just-- yeah, I mean-- and I understand that no one's wired to say, well, I'm content to be 8-9. I'm content to get my yards and catches. I'm content to get my paycheck.

But I think he also realizes-- and he realized it when he picked the Raiders last year-- that this is kind of where it is. This is kind of where he fits, where the team fits, and he knew that. He's smart enough to know that, that he wasn't going there to win a championship. If he wanted to go to a place to win a championship, he got the right division, he just got the wrong team. He should have gone to Kansas City instead of Las Vegas.