The Las Vegas Raiders were expecting to have a new and improved offense coming into this season with the upgrade at several positions. Jakobi Meyers has been with the team for some time, and it looks like he wanted a new contract, but the team has shut it down, leading to him requesting a trade, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
“Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers recently met with team brass and requested to be traded, per me and Tom Pelissero. The team, citing his value, said they had no plans to do so. Meyers and the team attempted to negotiate a new contract, but could not come to terms,” Rapoport wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Meyers is in the final year of his three-year contract with the Raiders and is due $10.76 million this season. Last season, he finished with 87 catches for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns, and he ended up being the top receiver for the Raiders.
That's most likely why he wanted to renegotiate his contract, but the Raiders see he has a lot of value to the team and don't want to honor his trade request.
With Geno Smith as the quarterback, Meyers could have one of the best seasons of his career, and Smith is probably the best signal caller he's played with since Tom Brady when he was on the Patriots. Meyers hasn't seen much success in his career over the past few years, but the Raiders may be able to make some noise this season.
The Raiders also have players such as Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty, who will be big for the Raiders' offense this season. The team knows that they have some good things going for them, and they don't want to jeopardize that by trading their top receiver.
At the same time, Meyers should get paid what he deserves.
