Davante Adams joins growing list of failed Raiders WR acquisitions

It's safe to say the Las Vegas Raiders should never trade for or sign a superstar wide receiver again. There might not be a team that has worse wide receiver luck in the NFL.

Unless you've been under a rock, you know that Davante Adams has been traded to the New York Jets. This comes weeks after he requested a trade from the team. Fans rejoiced when the Raiders traded a first and second-round pick to the Green Bay Packers to add him.

The team was coming off a playoff run and added arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. What followed was back-to-back losing seasons and this year has been a disaster thus far. It's hard to fault Adams for wanting out but the Raiders should be at fault for another failed wide receiver experiment.

Perhaps the Raiders are cursed from a trade back in 2005.

Raiders WR additions have been a nightmare since Randy Moss trade

In 2005, Al Davis traded a first-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for Randy Moss. He was coming off a down year but he was on a historic run before that. He was a logical player to build the offense around.

However, he only lasted two lackluster seasons with the Raiders before being traded to the Patriots for a fourth-round pick. Sadly, this wasn't the last wide receiver disaster for the Silver and Black.

Not long after moving on from Moss, the Raiders gave Javon Walker a shocking six-year, $55 million contract. He lasted two seasons with the franchise and had 15 catches for 196 yards. It was truly one of the worst contracts given out in NFL history.

The Raiders avoided huge moves at wide receiver until Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden traded for Antonio Brown in 2019. At the time, Brown was universally thought of as the best wide receiver in the NFL. Las Vegas never got to see that first-hand as Brown was cut before ever playing a game due to a series of unhinged antics. He's no longer in the NFL.

That now brings us to Adams, who didn't have as much drama as Brown, but only lasted a bit over two seasons before wanting out. This isn't even to mention high-profile first-round draft picks Darrius Heyward-Bey, Amari Cooper or Henry Ruggs. None of those first-round picks lasted more than four seasons with the Raiders.

Some of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history played for the Raiders but now the position seems cursed for the team. If Las Vegas should learn anything, it's that they should never invest heavily in a superstar wide receiver. Their best avenue is through the draft, but not in the first round. Fred Biletnikoff, Cliff Branch and Tim Brown were all taken after the first round.