The Davante Adams trade rumors include the Browns and Cowboys, but that makes little sense

It’s the money. Let’s start there.

Davante Adams would like a trade out of Las Vegas. The Raiders would like the assets that come with dealing away a star wideout.

But the reason not everyone can be in on trade talks for a three-time All-Pro and the reason the Raiders may not glean the return for which they’d hoped comes down to money. Namely, the salary cap hits of $36.25 million and $37.25 million Adams will cost his new team in the 2025 and 2026 seasons, per Over the Cap.

There are ways to massage that number down, but the fact remains there’s still a sizable chunk remaining on the five-year, $140 million contract extension Adams signed with Las Vegas in 2022. Any team acquiring his talent will also acquire his financials. While the overall impact of that can be dampened by restructuring or even a release, it’s still a massive hurdle when considering any deal.

It’s also why the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns, receiver needy as they are, make little sense as trade partners.

The Jets and Cowboys are among the many teams monitoring the Davante Adams situation. Both have checked in with the Raiders. I’m told at this point that Vegas is in no rush to make a move until a team reaches their asking price — but Adams wants out ASAP.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 2, 2024

The New York Jets, the first team listed in a report by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, have an estimated $88 million to spend against 2025’s projected salary cap. The Cowboys have $29 million. The Browns have -$3.6 million.

Bringing in a player with massive salary commitments is a stretch for both Dallas and Cleveland. The Cowboys would have an easier time fitting Adams on the salary sheet, but a good chunk of that estimated $29 million in 2025 spending cash is likely earmarked for a Micah Parsons extension (or maybe not, considering Jerry Jones’ master negotiating recently).

Restructuring the recently-inked extensions to CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott could make a deal for Adams and a market-resetting Parsons contract possible. It could even create room to re-sign future Hall of Famer and 2025 free agent Zack Martin, but it’s a difficult needle to thread. It would effectively doom Jones to another low key offseason next winter.

Is Adams really the missing piece on this roster? From a financial standpoint, dealing away a low-cost draft pick or two for a soon-to-be 32-year-old wideout comes with red flags for a team in need of young talent to buttress its high-cost veterans.

Those red flags turn into blaring klaxons when you consider the Browns. It’s not just because Adams would be stuck with the league’s 46th-best quarterback since 2022. It’s because while Cleveland has more than $44 million left to spend in 2024, the team’s cap is clogged the next two years by Deshaun Watson’s $72 million cap hits.

Watson, accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL later described as “predatory behavior,” has not only been a terrible quarterback but is playing out a fully guaranteed $230 million contract extension. A recent restructuring means he’ll be on the roster, consuming roughly a quarter of the Browns’ spending room, through at least 2026 when the dead cap space attached to his deal drops from $99.8 million to $26.8. As a result, Cleveland is the only team in the league currently estimated to exceed the salary cap in both 2025 and 2026. Not even the perpetually-in-cap-hell New Orleans Saints have a worse situation.

The good news is the Browns don’t have the same kind of priority free agents looming that the Cowboys do, though extensions for cornerbacks Greg Newsome II and Martin Emerson should be coming up. The bad news is it doesn’t really matter. Watson is struggling despite the presence of a Pro Bowl wideout on the wrong side of 30 already on the roster. Pairing Adams with Amari Cooper would be fun, but it would also be throwing money the team doesn’t really have at a problem that sure doesn’t seem fixable until Watson’s contract finally slides off the books.

This is not to say there’s any damage to kicking the tires on a trade. Dallas and Cleveland are doing due diligence. It would be concerning if they didn’t.

But an actual Adams deal is a tough sell for the Cowboys and an incredibly difficult fit for a Browns team that really can’t afford to take on future salary. That, of course, won’t matter to the Raiders if the trade price is right — but it could create major restraints beyond 2024 for the high profile teams on the other side of a deal.