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Davante Adams and the Las Vegas Raiders are currently in the midst of what figures to be a highly important offseason as for the future direction of the franchise. The Raiders missed the playoffs again in 2023-24, and although Adams continued to perform like one of the NFL's best receivers, there aren't many pundits or media members who view the Raiders as a true contender heading into the upcoming 2024-25 season.
Of course, the biggest storyline of the offseason for the Raiders was the fact that they agreed to terms with interim coach Antonio Pierce to take on the job full time going forward. Pierce was promoted midway through the season to replace Josh McDaniels, who was fired, and if his latest comments are any indication, it seems that Adams fully cosigns the Raiders' decision to go with Pierce.
“Well I think the big thing in a nutshell, AP is a dude that’s like what do you gotta do to win,” said Adams, via the All Facts No Brakes with Keyshawn Johnson podcast. “I don’t have an agenda exactly how I want to win the game, I don’t want to out coach him and come in and do this exactly to win a game this type of way. Let me evaluate what we have, the types of players we have, the types of mental they have.”
Adams also detailed some of the issues he took with McDaniels' coaching style.
“Because Josh and I talked and you know, this was actually my first year as a Raider,” said Adams. “I went in there and I think it was after a game that I think I had 2 catches, so he was thinking I was going in there to start, you know, crying and complaining about not getting the pill. The first thing he said when I walked in his office was, I know, I know, and I said no, I didn’t come here to complain about nothing, I came in here to tell you maybe you and I both need to kind of adjust our expectations. Not our standard because we’ve got a standard. We’re both used to winning and we’ve got to keep it that way, but adjust our expectations.”
Can the Raiders bounce back?
As previously mentioned, not many expect the Raiders to be a very good team this upcoming season, especially considering the strength of their division and of the AFC as a whole.
This past April, the team used their first round draft pick on Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who had one of the best college careers of anyone in history at that position. Bowers figures to be the type of player that can impact winning right away, and he and Adams could be a real force for opposing defenses to have to deal with.
Of course, the question of who will be throwing them the football is a different one altogether, and right now, the frontrunner for that designation appears to be Aiden O'Connell, who was Pierce's guy after taking over midway through last season.
In any case, the 2024-25 campaign gets underway in September.
