Bills miss out on Davante Adams as All-Pro WR lands with AFC East rival

The Buffalo Bills have not won the Davante Adams sweepstakes, as the All-Pro wide receiver has been traded to the New York Jets.

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Davante Adams will not be taking up residence in Orchard Park.

The sweepstakes for the multi-time All-Pro wide receiver have concluded, as the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to trade the 31-year-old to the New York Jets on Tuesday morning. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Gang Green has agreed to ship a conditional third-round draft pick to the Raiders in exchange for the six-time Pro Bowler. The agreement comes after the Jets fell to 2-4 on the young 2024 season in their Week 6 Monday Night Football loss to the Buffalo Bills.

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While the trade does reunite Adams with his former quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, it does, of course, prevent him from being shipped to the Bills, a team that was reportedly “monitoring” the trade saga from afar. The idea of Adams ultimately landing in Buffalo was always far-fetched; in addition to New York and the New Orleans Saints being the pass-catcher’s preferred destinations, his $17 million base salary was a bit too steep for the Bills to incur given their limited salary cap space. Buffalo never seemed to be too actively involved in the mix given the Raiders’ unwillingness to eat salary; he’ll now lineup opposite Garrett Wilson in New Jersey.

It’s not an ideal landing spot for the Bills for several reasons, the most paramount of which being the team now needing to broaden its search for a pass-catcher to add to its receiving corps (if it feels additional help is required). Adams landing within the division with a quarterback he has demonstrable chemistry with is also far from ideal; there are several factors that prevent New York from being a particularly imposing threat in the AFC East at this juncture, but regardless, the team acquiring Adams is noteworthy. Buffalo and company will next face off against Adams and the Jets in Week 17 in a contest that could, in theory, have postseason seeding (and general qualification) implications.

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