Las Vegas Raiders News & Rumors

Jakobi Meyers‘ trade request went unfulfilled by the Raiders as final roster cuts came and went, but at least one team tried to get the veteran wideout out of Las Vegas.

The Raiders were contacted by another team regarding Meyers, but that team wanted the Raiders to eat some of Meyers’ $11MM salary, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via The Pat McAfee Show) Las Vegas already had no intention of trading Meyers, and the prospect of absorbing additional dead money only made them less likely to reconsider.

The specific team that wanted Meyers remains unknown, but it makes sense why he would draw interest on the trade market. The 28-year-old has quietly put together a solid career, growing steadily throughout his first four years in New England before landing an $11MM APY deal from the Raiders in 2023 free agency.

The wide receiver market has grown significantly since then, and so has Meyers. He recorded 800 yards in 2023 for the third year in a row to go along with eight touchdowns, a career-high. He then stepped up after Davante Adams‘ departure and posted his first thousand-yard season in 2024, albeit with less-than-stellar efficiency.

As a result, Meyers was looking for a raise via an extension, both to reflect his production and his newfound status as the team’s WR1. The Raiders came to the negotiating table, but the two sides were unable to hammer out a deal. Meyers then took the usual step of asking for a trade.

However, trying again before Week 1 might be an ideal situation for both sides. Meyers is a reliable, versatile veteran in a young receiver room who could improve on last year’s numbers with Geno Smith stabilizing Las Vegas’ quarterback situation. Signing him now – perhaps in the $18MM per year range reached by Christian Kirk – would keep him happy and could be a steal if Smith provides more and better opportunities to make plays. However, Mike Evans‘ $20.5MM APY would seem to be a clear cap on a potential deal; given the longtime Buccaneer’s production relative to Meyers, the Raiders may not even be willing to go above $19MM per year.

4:02pm: Meyers has already drawn interest from “several teams,” The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson reports. That will of course be a moot point unless the Raiders’ stance toward accepting an offer changes, but a market exists in the event a deal can be struck over the coming days.

2:40pm: Jakobi Meyers is on the doorstep of entering a season as the Raiders’ No. 1 wide receiver for the first time. Although he spent much of last season in that role, Davante Adams was still with the team to start Meyers’ previous years in Las Vegas.

This status has not come with a contract adjustment, and the 2023 free agency addition — who has made it known he wants to stay in Vegas beyond 2025 — will try to force the issue. Meyers has requested a trade, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero report.

The former UDFA is tied to an $11MM-per-year contract, and discussions on a new deal have not keyed a resolution. The Raiders, however, have no plans to trade Meyers, per NFL.com. Even though this Raiders regime (or the one before it, for that matter) did not acquire Meyers, Rapoport and Pelissero indicate the seventh-year vet is viewed as too valuable to the team to move right now.

The sides engaged in extension talks earlier this summer, after Meyers let it be known he was interested in another Raiders pact. Added in 2023 on a deal that matched JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s free agency accord that year, Meyers has far exceeded the value Smith-Schuster or fellow 2023 eight-figure AAV recipient Allen Lazard have provided. Meyers posted a quiet 1,000-yard season in 2024, doing so despite one of the NFL’s worst quarterback groups targeting him. But he currently sits miles behind the receiver market’s upper echelon.

Meyers’ deal checks in 31st among wide receiver AAV; he is due a $10.76MM base salary in 2025. Although Meyers reuniting with then-Raiders HC Josh McDaniels brought him a massive raise from his UDFA Patriots terms, a player expected to be Geno Smith‘s top target is off the pace at the position. Then again, Meyers has one career 900-yard season on his resume. That complicates a raise route, even if the possession receiver posted three straight 800-yard years — with a slew of sub-average QBs targeting him in that span — before his 2024 uptick.

Being set for an age-29 season also increases some urgency for Meyers, who would be a slightly less attractive free agent ahead of an age-30 campaign next year. Though, Meyers could also still probably do well on the open market — provided his fit with Smith in Chip Kelly‘s offense goes well. Tom Brady having been the Patriots’ QB in Meyers’ rookie season, when he carved out a role for the defending Super Bowl champions, adds an interesting wrinkle to this process as well. But veteran reporter Jordan Schultz confirms extension talks have stalled.

Two players from Meyers’ rookie class — Deebo Samuel, D.K. Metcalf — changed teams via trade this year. Another, ex-third-rounder Terry McLaurin, just landed a monster Commanders extension after a holdout turned into a hold-in. Meyers participated in training camp and probably is not a candidate to skip regular-season games. The Silver and Black also appear to be counting on him as a Brock Bowers complement in Pete Carroll‘s debut. The Raiders have him tied to a team-friendly deal, and while nearly two weeks remaining until Las Vegas’ opener, beginning the season on this contract may be how this plays out.