The New York Jets are bolstering the trenches ahead of the 2026 season.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport revealed on Sunday, August 30, that the Jets have struck a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for center Jordan Meredith. “He has started 19 games over the last two seasons,” Rapoport added.
Rapoport said the Jets sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Raiders for a 2029 seventh-rounder and Meredith.
Getting Into the Details
Meredith, 28, entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He spent his rookie offseason with the Los Angeles Rams from May until the end of August.
Most recently, Meredith has been with the Raiders since 2022. During that stretch, he has appeared in 45 games and has made 20 starts.
This offseason, he returned to the Raiders on a one-year $3.25 million restricted free agent tender. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next offseason.
The former Western Kentucky product is versatile. He has logged 492 snaps at left guard, 539 at center, and 352 snaps at right guard during his NFL career to date, per Pro Football Focus.
Top Social Media Reactions to This Trade
“There is your depth move at IOL,” NFL analyst Will Parkinson responded.
Jets analyst Joe Caporoso said, “There is the IOL depth move – on to kicker and QB.”
ESPN NFL Insider Jeremy Fowler revealed that the “Jets had been looking for interior OL depth. Belief is [the] 49ers are, too.”
“Jets get some much needed depth on the OL,” Brian Costello of the New York Post wrote.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said, “Jordan Meredith started 11 games for the Raiders last year … when Geno Smith was the QB … and Dylan Parham was the LG. A Raiders reunion.”
“The Jets needed a backup center desperately after several bad snaps during the preseason and training camp. Plus, they lacked interior depth on the line. Now they get Meredith, who has experience,” Antwan Staley of the New York Daily News said.
You Can Never Have Enough Offensive Linemen
A general rule of thumb in the NFL is you can’t have enough offensive linemen. The Jets were the only team in the NFL last season to trot out the same five starters all year long. Gang Green hadn’t done that as a team since the 2012 season.
The chances of the Jets going back-to-back seasons fully healthy feel unlikely. So adding more depth in the trenches is paramount. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
I visited Jets training camp twice this offseason. The same issue reared its ugly head during both practices: the backup center position. Xavier Newman has struggled consistently snapping the football. That issue carried into this summer’s preseason games.
The thought of the Jets going to their backups on the interior offensive line is a scary thought. It is less scary after they added some much needed depth.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini has said on the “Jets Collective” podcast that the team’s plan if Josh Myers, the starting center, was unavailable that they’d kick Joe Tippmann from right guard to center and shuffle the offensive line. While Tippmann has done the job before, it isn’t ideal to switch around multiple guys after one injury.
Jets Strike Trade With Raiders for Starting OL: Report