The Las Vegas Raiders have the best young tight end in all of football. You could make the argument, that Brock Bowers is already the best overall TE after just finishing his rookie season.
He is the future of the Raiders’ offense, but that makes his counterpart Michael Mayer expendable.
PFF’s Bradley Locker just released his top trade assets for every team ahead of the NFL Draft, and Mayer is who is has selected for the Raiders.
Is Michael Mayer The Raiders Best Trade Asset?
Mayer, a 2nd-round pick just two years ago, had a challenging 2024 season that saw him miss the majority of the season dealing with a personal issue. This allowed Bowers to fully break out and take over the offense.
“Las Vegas’ offensive blueprint is slowly coming to fruition after the team traded for Geno Smith,” Locker writes. “The Raiders will definitely look to upgrade their skill-position talent in the draft, but Mayer might not be in those plans.”
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“The Notre Dame product played just 461 snaps last year as he dealt with a personal issue. On top of that, through two pro seasons, he hasn’t even reached a 60.0 PFF overall grade. Yes, Pete Carroll could implement Mayer next to Brock Bowers in 12 personnel, but Mayer has reportedly been floated in trade talks. The 23-year-old could be sought after if offered.”
As Locker alludes to, there is still plenty of opportunity for Mayer with the Raiders as they will want to run the ball a lot, and the tight end position is utilized a lot in Chip Kelly’s offensive system. He could actually thrive with less pressure and being able to be the Robin to Bower’s Batman.
That being said, however, he is still so young in his career that another team could view him as a viable TE1 and offer the Raiders some worthwhile compensation.
The question is, what would that compensation look like? If Las Vegas is able to flip him for an early day 3 pick, it could be something worth exploring.