Antonio Pierce's reaction to Davante Adams trade request will infuriate Raiders fans

At some point in the next few weeks here, we'll stop talking about Davante Adams. He's gone, he's not coming back, and he's still losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Adams trade saga has been all but wrapped up, and I'm sure that anyone on the team would tell you that they're now focused on [checks schedule] playing the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs next week.

But before we all move on to [double checks schedule in hopes that I was wrong] the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, there's a little bit more Adams/Raiders stuff to sort out. More specifically, some Adams/Raiders/Antonio Pierce stuff. It's kinda funny? In a really bleak way? And maybe Raiders fans can find some ironic joy in it? I dunno.

RELATED: Davante Adams reveals full list of teams that he asked Raiders to trade him to

It comes from ESPN NFL writers Rich Cimini and Paul Gutierrez, who published a big behind-the-scenes look this weekend at how Adams was eventually traded to New York. It mostly reads exactly as you'd expect it to, but a few details about the start of trade talks look, uh, not great.

Antonio Pierce and Raiders were 'stunned' that Davante Adams wanted to be traded

"And while Adams left a trail of clues, the Raiders were stunned when Adams, the morning after the Week 4 Browns victory, asked Pierce to talk. Adams dropped a bombshell -- he wanted out. According to a source with direct knowledge, Pierce assumed when Adams came to his office, he was going to tell him the hamstring was good to go for a winnable AFC West divisional game at Denver ... The Raiders were shocked not so much by the request, but by the timing of it, several team sources said."

...????? How is that possible? Maybe it's just whatever Raiders source helped with this article trying to save face, but literally every person on the planet knew that Adams wanted out. It wasn't exactly subtle. Are we really pretending that the Raiders actually believe Adams sat out those last three games with an actual hamstring injury?

I know the 'Pierce liked an Instagram post' story was a bit overdone, but it looks awfully weird under this context. That story originally broke in the week leading up to the Broncos game, so did Pierce immediately hop on the gram and start liking posts after this meeting? Then Adams said he hadn't heard from Pierce? I'm sorry I'm asking so many rhetorical questions in this blog, but it's just so weird.

What a mess. This entire saga was so over the top and unecessary, it almost makes playing the Chiefs look like the more enjoyable option.