Davante Adams calls GM Dave Ziegler 'the man' after WR says he and Raiders front office 'don't see eye-to-eye'

The Las Vegas Raiders have a clear vision about who they want to be: the New England Patriots West. 

Last year, Raiders owner Mark Davis hired New England's director of player personnel Dave Ziegler to be the Silver and Black's general manager and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to be their head coach. The top two quarterbacks on their depth chart, Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer (both signed this offseason) each began their careers playing for McDaniels in New England. The same goes for wide receiver Jakobi Meyers as he was signed to a three-year, $33 million deal in free agency in the wake of Las Vegas flipping Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller to the New York Giants. 

However, 2022 First-Team All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams isn't on the same page with the Raiders' team-building philosophy. The 30-year-old Adams, their prize of the 2022 offseason they hauled in after trading their first- and second-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft to the Green Bay Packers before signing him to a five-year, $140 million contract, told The Ringer his vision of contending for Super Bowls is out of alignment with what appears to be a retooling or rebuilding offseason in Las Vegas.

"[The front office] think this is the best bet for us right now to put us in a position to be urgent," Adams said. "We don't see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now."  

Adams has since done a bit of damage control on those comments, posting a picture of himself alongside Ziegler and captioning it by calling the Raiders GM "the man." 

Adams did reveal to The Ringer that the Raiders front office does listen to his opinions on personnel decisions, something he expressed gratitude about. However, that doesn't mean McDaniels and Ziegler follow through on his requests. 

"I'm going to have to buy into this and try to be as optimistic as possible," Adams said. "It's not what I expected to happen, but it's something that's the reality now."  

Raiders' notable moves this offseason  

In earning a 2022 First-Team All-Pro selection and leading the NFL in touchdown catches (14) in his first season without future, first-ballot Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers throwing him the football, Adams said he proved he can thrive no matter who his quarterback is. However, the top-flight wideout believes there's an exact way his newest quarterback, Garoppolo, needs to play in order for the 2023 season to be a success. It's a rare public sentiment for a wide receiver to spell out they feel like their quarterback needs to play a certain way. Usually that kind of rhetoric flows from the opposite direction. 

"It all depends on the style of ball that we play," Adams said. "If we play a certain brand of ball, I can get [Garoppolo] to conform to whatever. But if we use him a certain type of way, then it's going to make it tough for us to maximize who we should be this year."

While it seems obvious to connect the dots between Adams and the friendship he has with Carr, his college quarterback at Fresno State, as the reason why he asked the Packers to send him to Las Vegas, the First-Team All-Pro three years running maintained his tenure with the Raiders has always been more than that. It has to be now that Carr is a New Orleans Saint. 

"My goal is to win a Super Bowl with this team, and that's why I didn't come here to just be cute with Derek," Adams said. "It is to really try and have a shot and change this organization."