Latest Davante Adams development may be best news of Raiders offseason

For most of last season, it seemed like Davante Adams was destined to leave Las Vegas. The Raiders were a mess, in large part due to then-head coach Josh McDaniels. They were waffling back-and-forth between Jimmy Garoppolo and Aidan O'Connell, their young high-round draft picks weren't working out, and rumors of an Adams trade to the Jets were already well-established. It felt like it was more a matter of when the Raiders' star wideout would leave, not if.

But maybe not anymore?

While talking to The Athletic from his offseason youth football camp recently, Adams spoke at length about his tenure with the Raiders, and mentioned some thoughts about how he sees the immediate future playing out. Without revealing too many spoilers: get excited, Raiders fans.

Latest Adams development may be best news of Raiders offseason

In one short sentence, Adams help dispell about 8 months worth of speculation:

“If I wanted to be gone, I’d be gone by now,” Adams told reporters. “This is where I want to be.”

Well then! It's music to Raiders' fans ears, especially as they're gearing up to watch Adams try and catch passes from either O'Connell or Gardner Minshew for 17 weeks next season.

When asked what's changed since last year, when he was somewhat open about how disgruntled he felt with the team's direction, he pointed to the hiring of head coach Antonio Pierce, who helped turn the team around in the second half of the season on their way to a respectable 8-9 record.

"It’s already helped the morale of the team,” Adams said. “It’s what we were all looking for: To be able to continue with the same mindset that we had. That’s our guy. We’ve got to get to work now … It’s about what we go out there and do.”

At the risk of sounding naive, both of those quotes certainly sound like a player who's actually bought in, and not one that's just saying the right lines to avoid making the 6PM SportsCenter. And while it still kinda feels like a trade is the end game here – he is 31, after all – you could hardly blame Raiders fans for feeling a renewed sense of optimism after reading Adams' quotes. At least the coming training camp QB battle will feature some great catches.