Dallas Cowboys Should Trade for Davante Adams, Pair WR with CeeDee Lamb, Says Ex-GM
FRISCO - Davante Adams should be the primary trade target of the Dallas Cowboys because of how he'd pair with CeeDee Lamb, insists a former NFL GM.
"Let's go get another No. 1 (like how) it is (with) Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (in Miami) and DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown (in Philadelphia),'' said Mike Tannenbaum, speaking on ESPN's "Get Up'' ahead of Tuesday's NFL trade deadline. "A guy like Davante Adams will get them over the hump.''
This is not a new concept and of course, in terms of created a super-duo at wideout, it would put the Cowboys among the very elite of the NFL. Dallas has its red-zone problems, and the perennial Pro Bowler Adams would obviously help. Dallas has received spotty contributions from Brandin Cooks and Michael Gallup, and Adams is obvious a large step up as a player.
CeeDee Lamb and Davante Adams
Are there issues with Tannenbaum's core position? Of course not. Are there realities that Tannenbaum's core position ignore? While realities are not the stock in trade of guys in TV studios in Bristol or L.A., they are - as Tannenbaum knows, having actually worked in the league - unavoidable in the real world.
Those realities? They are many ...
*The Raiders are 3-4. By the time the trade deadline arrives on Tuesday, will they have slipped to 3-5, at which time they might view themselves as non-contenders and "sellers''? Sure. But what if they win at the Lions?
“We’re trying to win,” owner Mark Davis recently told The Athletic ... and that can be taken as a sign that Las Vegas doesn't wish to deal Adams.
*Adams has been vocal in his dissatisfaction with his Raiders role and with the franchise's lack of success? Will he emerge from this weekend wanting out?
*The wide receiver is turning 31 this season; how much does a team want to give up for him? And given that the Raiders gave the Packers a first- and a second-round pick when they acquired him in 2022, wouldn't they want something akin to that in order to give him up?
*Adams signed a five-year, $140 million deal with the Raiders in 2022. He's a $28 million APY receiver; the plan is for Lamb to soon get a deal that figures to be in in excess of $20 million APY. Is Dallas (or any other team) prepared to employ a pair of wideouts who combine to make $50 million APY.
These are important details that cannot be glossed over by simply citing "Tyreek and Waddle'' and "Brown and Smith.'' In Miami, Tyreek makes big money, but Waddle's cap numbers for the next two years are about $7 and $8 million. In Philly, Brown makes big money but Smith's cap numbers for the next two years are about $5 and $6 million.
And Lamb? His 2024 cap number, by virtue of Dallas having exercised his fifth-year option, is $18 million. ... which means that Tannenbaum knows very well that "let's just go get'' Adams to pair with Lamb isn't as easy as the TV studios make it sound.
