Las Vegas is reportedly shopping 3rd year tight end
One of the more intriguing developments of the early stages of the Las Vegas Raiders offseason was a report by The Athletic over the weekend that the team is shopping tight end Michael Mayer in trade talks.
This would indicate the Raiders’ new regime doesn’t think Mayer is a good fit moving forward.
The previous regimes were high on Mayer, who the team moved up to draft with the No. 35 overall pick in 2023. Former Las Vegas general manager Dave Ziegler gave up the No. 38 pick and No. 141 pick (fifth round) to take Mayer out of Notre Dame. He was considered a top prospect.
Mayer’s NFL career has been slow to take off, though. He had 27 catches for 304 yards and started 12 games as a rookie. Mayer had just 21 catches for 156 yards in 2024. He missed six games due to a personal reason.
Because of his lack of production, Mayer may not attract a huge return in a trade, but some teams could be interested. Perhaps the New England Patriots (their offensive coordinator is Mayer’s first NFL head coach, Josh McDaniels) or the Tennessee Titans (where Ziegler is part of the front office) would show interest as well.
If Mayer is traded, the Raiders would have to add tight end to the list of needs as they would need a strong backup to star Brock Bowers, who had a historic rookie season in 2024.
Tight end is supposed to strong in this year’s draft class, but again, the Raiders have other needs and Mayer was a high pick just two years ago. They could also look to add in free agency (fellow backup tight end Harrison Bryant is also a free agent). Among the tight ends available in free agency include Juwan Johnson, Mike Gesicki, Tyler Conklin and Zach Ertz.