Getty Dave Ziegler & Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders.
After months of talk about the Las Vegas Raiders trading up in the draft to get a quarterback, that wasn’t on the table for the team on draft day. They decided that none of the available quarterbacks were worth moving up. However, there was one player that tempted the team to move back up to the end of the first round.
Former Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer was expected to be the first tight end off the board and it was a big surprise that he fell into the second round. The Raiders were able to trade up to get him but if they had it their way, they would’ve taken him even earlier. According to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, Las Vegas reached out to the Dallas Cowboys about moving up to No. 26. With that pick, they would’ve selected Mayer:
Ziegler said Mayer was the 15th-rated player on their draft board, which, if true, made it a no-brainer to trade up for the tight end in the second round. In fact, the Raiders tried to make a deal with the Cowboys to get back into the first round to get Mayer. He is a big, physical receiver who is a willing blocker. Unlike the other tight ends in this draft, Mayer was his college team’s No. 1 receiving target at Notre Dame.
Luckily for the Raiders, Dallas didn’t want to make a trade. The cost to move back into the first round would’ve been greater than moving up in the second round. In the end, they still got the player they wanted.
Michael Mayer Named Raiders’ Best Pick
Mayer was an exciting prospect in this year’s draft and many mock drafts had him going in the first round. It was a big surprise that he fell out of the first round. The Raiders being able to get him in the second round could be a major steal. ESPN’s Todd McShay thought the Mayer selection was the best pick Las Vegas made this year.
“I was pretty surprised Mayer, who was No. 19 on my board, didn’t go in the first round. Talk about a high-floor prospect,” McShay wrote. “He will give you a little bit of everything, but his best traits are toughness and strength after the catch.”
Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer is heading to the Raiders 🎰
Vegas drafts its replacement for Darren Waller
Raiders Had Michael Mayer Highly Rated
Tight end was a need for the Raiders after the trade of Darren Waller but the team had much bigger needs on defense. However, Mayer was too good to pass on. General manager Dave Ziegler revealed that they thought he was one of the 15 best players in the draft.
“He was one of the top-15 players on our board just in totality,” Ziegler said during his April 28 media availability. “So, to be able to get a guy like Michael [Mayer], a tight end, good size. A really unique thing about him I’d say is his short area quickness. He’s a bigger guy, but he still has – when you watch the tape – he has the ability to win in a short area, can win on third down, use his size down in the red zone.”
The Raiders should now have their starting tight end for a long time and he’ll be much cheaper than Waller for the next few years.