The Las Vegas Raiders should be sellers at the trade deadline, and one player who could get moved is wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
Meyers is in the final year of his contract and did not get the extension he desired from the Raiders, which led to him requesting a trade he's still looking for. Safe to say, there's a good chance Meyers isn't back in 2026.
According to Raiders beat writer and Locked on Raiders podcast host Q Myers, Las Vegas is "comfortable with holding" on to Meyers and grabbing a compensatory pick once he bolts in free agency.
However, Myers rightly points out that with the Raiders likely to be spending big in 2026 free agency given all the holes they have, that comp pick might not come, which gives Las Vegas extra motivation to trade the veteran wideout.
“There’s a problem. The Raiders are comfortable with holding on to [Jakobi Meyers] and getting a compensatory pick if they don’t get the trade capital that they want in return. The problem with that is, they’ve got a lot of money in salary cap space next year, a lot, and we obviously know that they need a lot of talent on this team, so they’re going to be big spenders in free agency next year,” Myers said.
“Well, the compensatory situation is a math problem [because] you basically are rewarded based off of how much you spend and how much you lose," Myers added. "If they go out and spend as much as I anticipate them spending on some big-time free agents… that’s the math problem. And if they spend a lot of money like I anticipate and then they lose Jakobi, then he might end up walking for basically nothing because the math doesn’t math.”
According to Over The Cap, the Raiders are projected to have $103.2 million in cap space next offseason and chances are the team will use a great deal of that money.
Long story short, if the Raiders sign more compensatory pick eligible free agents than they lose, they won't get the selection for Meyers leaving, which would leave them with nothing to show for the wideout, who is likely to be one of the most coveted players available at his position.
There are no shortage of teams rumored to be in the market for a wideout, a list that includes, but is not limited to, the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills.
The Raiders should leave nothing to chance and would be wise to deal Meyers now before they potentially have nothing to show for him after his inevitable departure next offseason.
NFL trade rumors
- Cowboys trade rumor reveals Dallas has offer on table for 5-time Pro Bowler
- Steelers trade rumor opens door for addition nobody is expecting
- Raiders trade rumor gives Bills 2 low-cost defensive options
- Bills could have new WR trade target after latest Commanders rumor
- Commanders trade rumor gives Lions, Seahawks, Chargers 2 OL targets
- Seahawks trade rumor from Adam Schefter opens door for electric deadline
- Patriots trade rumor gives Cowboys, Eagles, 49ers, Lions low-cost EDGE target