The Raiders will add some tight end depth for the second half of the season. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the Raiders have activated tight end Michael Mayer from the non-football injury list.
[RELATED: Raiders TE Michael Mayer Returns To Practice]
Mayer landed on the NFI list in early October due to undisclosed personal reasons and has missed the Raiders’ last six games. The tight end returned to practice earlier this week, and the Raiders are expecting to throw him right into the fire.
“I think there’s obviously an opportunity there for him,” coach Antonio Pierce said (via Vic Tafur of The Athletic). “The more we can get him involved, the better.”
Through the first three weeks of the season, Mayer had appeared in 56 percent of his team’s offensive snaps. Even with the expected emergence of first-round TE Brock Bowers, there should still be a role for the second-year pro in Las Vegas. Mayer looked the part of a potential TE1 as a rookie, finishing the year with 27 catches for 304 yards and two touchdowns. Harrison Bryant and John Samuel Shenker will likely slide down the depth chart with Mayer back in the lineup.
The Raiders made a handful of additional moves in anticipation of tomorrow’s matchup with the Dolphins. The team announced that they’ve waived wideout Alex Bachman, and they also promoted receiver Terrace Marshall and center Will Putnam from the practice squad as standard gameday elevations.
I don’t think this moves the needle much for us this season but if we can figure out how to deploy him and Bowers effectively it will help out moving forward