Trade pitch sees Raiders swap Davante Adams to reunite with Pro Bowler

There's been very little indication that the Las Vegas Raiders want to trade Davante Adams or that the wide receiver wants to be traded. Despite that, Adams continues to be commonly mentioned in trade speculation.

While it seems unlikely now that the Raiders would trade him, it's always possible that a team makes an offer they can't refuse. That's exactly was Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report may have pitched.

He threw out a three-team idea that would send Adams to the New York Jets while they would send their 2025 first-round pick to Las Vegas. The Cleveland Browns would send the Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper and they'd get the Jets' 2025 third-round pick and offensive tackle Tyron Smith.

"Las Vegas has $34.1 million in cap space and could afford to extend Cooper," Knox wrote. "They get a new top target in this deal, along with New York's 2025 first-round draft selection. The Jets effectively get Adams for first- and third-round picks—they have two third-rounders in 2025—while sending offensive tackle Tyron Smith to Cleveland."

Look, nobody wants to see Adams dealt away from Las Vegas but there are a few reasons why this trade idea would make a lot of sense.

Why the Raiders couldn't turn down this trade

Raiders fans may not remember Cooper very fondly. He was a top-five pick of the team in 2015 and made back-to-back Pro Bowls to start his career. He looked like the next great Raiders wide receiver until Jon Gruden took over as head coach and he was plagued by drops.

However, he's proven since leaving the Raiders that he's at least a top-20 wide receiver in the NFL. He's nowhere close to the level that Adams is at but is still good enough to be a No. 1 wide receiver. That's why the trade that Knox is pitching has to be appealing.

Adams' salary cap hit goes from $25.3 million in 2024 to $44.1 million in 2025. That's a massive number to commit to an aging wide receiver. It's hard to imagine the Raiders won't re-work his contract if he does stay put.

A Cooper for Adams swap outright wouldn't make any sense but getting a first-round pick to go with it would be very appealing. The Jets think they're going to be good but they're one Aaron Rodgers injury away from having a top-10 pick. Even if Rodgers stays healthy and the first-round pick is a late one, it could still be worth it for the Raiders.

Adams is a team captain and might already be a Hall of Famer but sometimes teams have to make tough moves to improve their future chances at winning a Super Bowl.