By Ross Jackson
It’s not very often that missing out on something a team did not have in the first place feels like a net-negative. But Tuesday’s trade of wide receiver Davonte Adams to the New York Jets definitely feels like a loss.
The Saints and Jets were considered the favorites to land Adams, who was seeking a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s the Jets that get the deal done, pairing Adams back up with former teammate and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Saints had a similar connection with Adams thanks to quarterback Derek Carr, but he is currently expected to miss another 2-3 games with an oblique injury while rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler starts.
For New Orleans, not landing Adams isn’t the end of the world on its own. But considering the recent turmoil at wide receiver, things definitely don’t feel free at the position.
The team has taken two big hits at wideout this week.
Firstly, Chris Olave is in concussion protocol on a short week. This would be the third concussion of his young NFL career. Meanwhile, speedy deep threat Rashid Shaheed’s, the team’s most consistent homerun hitter on offense, status moving forward is “TBD”, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport due to a knee injury.
Sometimes a team just misses out on the chance to add a player, other times they simply choose not to go in on the deal. The latter may be truer in this situation. Per multiple reports from Senior NFL Insider Josina Anderson, the Saints and Raiders never really sounded eye-to-eye on trade compensation despite teams considering New Orleans the favorite to acquire Adams.
However, the Saints are now on a four-game losing streak, will be without Carr for multiple weeks and have an absolutely decimated offense. So that “favorites” tag would have taken a hit one way or another.
Either way, the Saints now have to navigate their situation at the position. Do they try to make a move for another wide receiver like Amari Cooper or Calvin Ridley? Or do they accept where they are and begin to evaluate what they’ve got on the roster? New Orleans has never been prone to lay down. We’ll see if the Saints maintain that steadfast charge as the season rolls along.
