Go ahead, connect the dots. 

Edgar Allan Poe. Disgruntled receiver. Trade bait. 

The cryptic Instagram post from Davante Adams on Friday certainly stoked the buzz that the wanna-be-gone Las Vegas Raiders star seemingly has his sights on a deal that would land him with the Baltimore Ravens, aka the Dead Poet’s Team. 

Adams, who reportedly requested a trade earlier this week, posted a picture of Poe, whose most famous work, “The Raven,” inspired the name of the NFL team that resides in the city where the legendary writer is buried. 

Then he followed it up with a post featuring this Poe quote: “Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see.” 

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Well, we can believe the Raiders have a business decision to execute in granting the big-time receiver his wishes. If it hasn’t happened already, the Raiders should grant Adams’ agents, Frank Bauer and Kenny Chapman, the permission to try brokering a trade that would settle the issue. 

Of course, that’s easier said than done. While Adams would have strong value to a healthy mix of contenders on his apparent wish list, which likely includes Baltimore, Buffalo, the New York Jets, Dallas, Pittsburgh and New Orleans, striking a deal that would also fit his huge salary under the cap could make it a no-go in some cases. Remember, after Adams was dealt from Green Bay in 2022, he landed a five-year, $140 million contract. According to overthecap.com, Adams is still due approximately $13.5 million in base salary this season, with that figure declining by nearly $1 million for each week he remains with the team.

Meanwhile, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce might want to get permission from Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to use this Tomlinism about now: “We need volunteers, not hostages.” 

The Raiders also need whatever premium draft capital they can get that might factor into a package to move up in next year’s draft to select one of the top quarterbacks. Of course, cryptic social media posts probably won’t help drive the price up on what Raiders GM Tom Telesco can fetch for a 31-year-old receiver. But with the trade deadline still a month away, time and circumstances for the would-be suitors might weigh on the price...if the caponomics work. 

Adams, who missed last weekend’s gut-check win against Cleveland due to a hamstring injury, didn’t practice all week and is ruled out for Sunday’s game at Denver.  

“He is supposed to be rehabbing,” Pierce said, leaving the rest to the imagination. 

Then again, cryptic messages add to the spice of this episode. There was a straight answer from Saints quarterback Derek Carr, a close friend and former college teammate, who lasted just one year in the reunion in Las Vegas with Adams. 

“I think all 32 quarterbacks would love to play with Davante,” Carr told reporters in New Orleans. “We would welcome that.” 

Ditto for another of Adams’ former quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers. 

“I don’t know how much I can say about it because of tampering, but I still have a close friendship with him,” Rodgers said from London, where his Jets will face the Vikings. 

Then Rodgers – conceivably not inspired by Poe – may have poetically dropped a cryptic message of his own. 

“The grass is green where you water it,” Rodgers said. “There’s the fearmongering that goes along with the adage that, ‘The grass is not always greener on the other side.’  But the grass is greener where you water it. You put in the time, you put intention into what you’re doing and you can make a special situation out of being anywhere.” 

Now try connecting those dots. 

Lamar Jackson hits home on wagers, fantasy and reality

I absolutely loved Lamar Jackson firing back on the followers (or gamblers or even fans) who tee off on social media with their disgust that the Ravens star or other players don’t hit certain marks that would pay off with their betting or fantasy football action. 

He’s hardly the first player to express such pushback, but it was refreshing to get a reminder as the NFL and other sports leagues embrace the gambling and fantasy industry that, well, grow the sport. 

Part of a Jackson post on X (formerly Twitter) this week nailed it as follows: “Yall stop commenting on our socials about the yards yall fan duels (sic) or parlays aint hit.” 

When he met with reporters at Ravens headquarters later in the week, Jackson expounded on the matter. 

“We’re not betting on the game,” he said. “We can’t even bet on games. So, we’re not worried about that. I don’t believe we’re going into games worried about stats, either. We’re worried about the W column.” 

It should be noted that while a couple gambling scandals have surfaced in Major League Baseball and the NBA, it has been more than a year since any NFL player has been disciplined due to a violation of the league’s gambling policy.  

Did you notice? Kyle Pitts breaks out

You may figure that on a night Kirk Cousins breaks the 500-yard barrier that Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts would get ample touches. Done. 

Yet it seemed, too, that four days after Pitts played in his first NFL game without a catch that the Falcons were quite intentional about getting the athletic target into the flow right off the bat. Cousins’ first throw of the night was a beauty down the right seam that went for 32 yards. So that was that. 

The message? 

“He trusts me,” Pitts said afterward. 

Pitts was targeted eight times in the wild shootout against the Bucs and finished with seven catches for 88 yards. The reception haul nearly matched his total from the first four games this season (eight), while the yardage marked the most in a contest for Pitts since his rookie year in 2021, when he posted three 100-yard games. 

Of course, Pitts, the highest-drafted tight end in history when selected fourth overall, also sounded unbothered by the social media critics who skewered him as some sort of draft bust after the zero-catch game. 

“I don’t really pay attention to social media,” Pitts told USA TODAY, while fully dressed in the locker room. “Those people sit behind their phones and just tweet away. But they can’t come out here on the field and do it. For me, it’s just being a contributor for this offense and letting the ball find me.” 

Quick slants

— The NFL Players Association is pushing to bar the media from the locker room during the week – but not on gamedays – citing privacy concerns. The union is urging its members to conduct interviews outside of the locker room. Know this: That option has existed for decades, and as the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) pointed out in a statement on Friday, it’s in the media policy. Whether players adhere to the policy (and whether the NFL enforces it) is another matter. It’s understandable that players would be uncomfortable while in various stages of undressing or while completely naked. And that point was illustrated recently when a radio reporter (and non-PFWA member) posted a locker room interview with a player that exposed the backside of another player in the background. Bottom line, professionalism needs to be the standard for media covering the league and for players fulfilling media obligations. As it stands now, players typically hold off from conducting interviews at their lockers until they are fully dressed.  

— Geno Smith – who led the NFL with 1,182 passing yards after Week 4 and set a Seahawks record with 56 passes on Monday night at Detroit – is on pace for a 5,024-yard season. Sure, 5,000 is a rare milestone with a sliding scale. Of the 15 times quarterbacks passed for 5k (beginning with Dan Marino in 1984), three of the cases have occurred since the league went to a 17-game season in 2021. Yet if he can stay on this torrid pace, the milestone would be real enough for Smith, who stuck in the NFL as a backup for six years until succeeding Russell Wilson as Seattle’s starter in 2022. Now he has a sizzling 72.3% completion rate and after Week 4 led the league in completions (115) and attempts (159).