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Raiders owner Mark Davis speaks out about Davante Adams-Jets trade: ‘Thick skin’
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Raiders owner Mark Davis speaks out about Davante Adams-Jets trade: ‘Thick skin’

Raiders owner Mark Davis talked about the wild week in Las Vegas that saw Davante Adams join the Jets.

While the departure of the Raiders’ top player would certainly be considered a tough one for most organizations, Davis told NFL.com he didn’t see it as a tough week.

Simply put, Davis told the outlet that he was “used to it.”


Raiders owner Mark Davis walls the SoFi Stadium field during pre-game warmups on Sunday USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

“I grew up in this sport,” he says. “There’s the business side of the building and the football side of the building. The football side is tough love, man. I saw my best friend… Cliff Branch, he had to retire. I’ve seen all these guys, at one point they told me to hang it up or this or that. You get a very hard, thick skin.”

Davis, who also saw Tom Brady’s partial ownership stake in the team approved last week, believes the locker room would also be okay with Adams’ departure.

The Raiders hosted the Rams in their first game after trading the star wide receiver and appear to have lost quarterback Aiden O’Connell to a broken thumb.

“You should be in the locker room and you would understand what the message is,” Davis said. ‘You should ask them that. But I am convinced that there are no problems. Yes, I know the players like it.”

The Raiders dealt Adams to the Jets for a conditional third-round draft pick in 2025 and the move ends weeks of turmoil surrounding Adams’ happiness in Las Vegas.


Jets wide receiver Davante Adams (17) practices this week in Florham Park, NJ.
Jets wide receiver Davante Adams (17) practices this week in Florham Park, NJ. Bill Kostroun/New York Post

The trade that originally brought the six-time Pro Bowler to the desert took place in 2022 when the Raiders sent a first- and second-round pick to Green Bay in exchange for the three-time All-Pro.

It had also brought hope that the Raiders could create championship chemistry between Adams and then-QB Derek Carr.

Carr, who Adams played with in college at Cal, signed with the Saints as a free agent this offseason.

Looking back, Davis had a relatively simple explanation for why things didn’t work out.

“Unfortunately it didn’t work out. The only way I can sum it up,” he said.