There is a big reason why the Las Vegas Raiders are on their fourth head coach in the last five years. The Denver Broncos' rivals in Vegas have had a tough transition away from Oakland as a franchise, especially the dismal Josh McDaniels era from 2022-23. Part of that dismal Josh McDaniels era was the Raiders making a blockbuster move to bring in star wide receiver Davante Adams, who was a thorn in the Broncos' side, to say the least.
Adams, though, did not find that the grass was greener out in the desert that is Las Vegas. After leaving the Green Bay Packers, Adams found quite the opposite.
He recently spoke to the media about reuniting in Los Angeles with Jimmy Garoppolo, now as members of the Rams. The perception was that Adams didn't like Garoppolo and was getting frustrated with him over his lack of production in the offense.
Adams not only cleared the air regarding his relationship with Garoppolo, but buried the Raiders in the process.
Davante Adams said he was "miserable" as member of Broncos rival Raiders
Davante Adams on reuniting with QB Jimmy Garoppolo on the Rams:
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) July 30, 2025
"I love Jimmy. It was never a personal thing ... that was just a dark moment in all of our lives. I think all of us were pretty miserable over there." 😳 pic.twitter.com/PiZDfGWoF6
If you're a Denver Broncos fan, nothing can be sweeter than hearing a former Raiders player saying something like this.
The unfortunate fact of the matter is, the Broncos were also pretty miserable during this timeframe. In fact, they struggled really bad against the Raiders for a long stretch of time, and hadn't even beaten them as the "Las Vegas" Raiders until this past season.
Despite the fact that the Raiders beat the Broncos in head-to-head matchups for a few years in a row, the Broncos have had the last laugh. The Broncos are the ones who have a young franchise quarterback in place, and the Raiders even took a page out of Denver's offseason playbook by calling a future Hall of Fame coach out of retirement to come and stabilize the organization.
It's been a dismal couple of decades for the Raiders, for the most part, but to hear a superstar player like Adams confirming this is something that should make Broncos fans extremely thankful for the culture Sean Payton is creating (or has created, at this point).
And Broncos fans can also empathize with the Raiders' pain, though nobody in the Raider Nation fan base can say we didn't tell you so. The Raiders had such optimism that Josh McDaniels was going to figure things out in his second go-round as an NFL head coach, and he burned them similarly to the way he burned the Denver Broncos.
It's yet another cautionary tale, for someone like Davante Adams (who should have never left the Packers when he did), that the grass is often greener where you water it.