Davante Adams gives Raiders fans glimmer of hope for future amid turmoil

The Las Vegas Raiders could go a number of directions with their future. Will Davante Adams be a part of that?

Davante Adams has been very clear that a big reason he ended up with the Las Vegas Raiders in the first place was Derek Carr. So it’s a reasonable question to ask: With the Raiders likely moving away from Carr, will Adams want out?

Carr has been benched late in the season, and all signs point toward his NFL career continuing in colors other than silver and black. But what about Adams?

Adams himself was afforded the opportunity to speak on that topic this week, and he put the speculation to rest.

Davante Adams wants to continue playing for the Raiders, even without Derek Carr

Adams was asked, point-blank by Hondo Carpenter if he wanted to stay with the Raiders. His answer was clear:

"“Yeah, absolutely, I wouldn’t have been here or ended up here, originally, probably if Derek wasn’t here,” Adams said in his weekly media conference. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I won’t be here in the event that he’s not here. That’s my boy. Obviously, I’ve got his back through anything. I think I’ve made that more than clear at this point. I support him and I support everything that he has moving forward as well. But my dream was to play for this team before he was a Raider, and at this point I want to try to make this thing work and continue on doing what I’m doing here, myself get better and see the team grow and get better as well.”"

Clearly, Adams is not shying away from the fact that he wanted to play with Carr first and foremost, but that he also wanted to be a Raider even before Carr was a Raider. This could be posturing from Adams, but these comments about him wanting to stay in Las Vegas are quite clear.

Things have not gone to plan for the Raiders, which seems to be customary. Entering the final week of the year they are 6-10. After qualifying for the NFL Playoffs for just the second time since their 2002 Super Bowl loss, the Raiders are back to missing out.

Adams did his job, though, setting a single-season record for receiving yards and posting his best year yet in terms of yards per reception and third-best in yards per target. He also has a league-leading 14 receiving touchdowns. He’s been announced as a member of his sixth-straight Pro Bowl team as well.

Remarkably, the Raiders have a slim point differential of just -5, perhaps a sign that they’re just a piece or two away from competitive.