Raiders' Mark Davis Talks Davante Adams Trade: 'Football Side Is Tough Love, Man'

Trading Davante Adams to the New York Jets wasn't a tough decision emotionally for Raiders owner Mark Davis "because I'm used to it," he said in an interview with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

"I've grown up in this sport. There is the business side of the building and the football side of the building," he said. "The football side is tough love, man. I've seen my best friend … Cliff Branch, he had to retire. I've seen all of these guys, at some point in time they said I've got to hang it up or this or that. You get really tough, thick skin."

Davis also spoke about the feeling in the locker room following Adams' departure:

"You'd have to be inside the locker room and you'd understand what the message is," Davis said, per Rapoport. "You'd have to ask them. But I'm confident that there are no issues. Yeah, I know the players are OK with it."

Rapoport noted that Davis "was close with Adams" and would consult with the six-time Pro Bowler to gauge the broad state of the Raiders locker room.

During the NFL's fall owner meetings this week, Davis refrained from going into too much detail about the Adams trade, calling it "part of this life in football," per The Athletic's Tashan Reed. He added that "players come and go" and affirmed he stayed out of things as the transaction came together.

"I leave these decisions up to the general manager and the head coach," Davis said. "They make the football decisions. I consult with them and I might play devil's advocate a lot of times, but they make the decisions and they make the final decision."

Dealing Adams was the right move from a football perspective.

The 31-year-old didn't lift the Raiders into the playoffs in 2022 or 2023 and the postseason will probably be out of reach again following a 2-4 start. Las Vegas is badly in need of a full rebuild, in which case a player such as Adams is more of a luxury than a necessity.

Assuming the franchise does pivot toward the future, it also would've been tougher to justify paying Adams a $35.6 million base salary for each of the next two years.

This was a situation where the Raiders miscalculated by first executing the trade that brought the three-time All-Pro to Sin City. It wasn't too late to basically admit the trade was a mistake.

Davis' willingness to step back and let general manager Tom Telesco work will be beneficial for Las Vegas in the bigger picture because Telesco will have a lot on his plate this offseason.