After spending almost two months without one of their top offensive weapons from the 2023 NFL season, the Las Vegas Raiders are getting a major boost with the addition of star tight end Michael Mayer, who is returning to practice for the first time since September.
Expected to begin the season as the Raiders 1b at tight end next to rookie tight end Brock Bowers – the highest drafted TE since Kyle Pitts – Mayer played his last game in Week 3, where he caught one pass for seven yards on three targets. Since then, he's been away from the team for personal reasons, which led some fans to wonder if he could be traded and others to question if he would return to the team at all when his absence went from weeks to months.
Fortunately for the Raiders, Bowers has been able to hold things down in Mayer's absence, leading the team in receiving yards, receptions, and targets on the season, but outside of the rookie phenom, Las Vegas really doesn't have much to be excited about on the offensive side of the ball. If Mayer can return to the field and look like the elite tight end prospect he showed he could be in 2023, who knows, maybe Raiders fans will have two players on the offensive side of the ball they can hold their hats on down the stretch.
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Considering the Raiders are favorites to select a quarterback in the 2025 NFL draft, even if their exact draft order is as of yet to be determined, having two quality tight ends, one who can play in-line and one who can move around the offense as a do-it-all slot receiver and who knows, maybe this unnamed QB will have an offense ready to rock in 2025 much like Jayden Daniels in Washington. Or, if Mayer and Bowers simply don't fit together, they could always move the Notre Dame product to a tight end-needy team, as his reputation alone should keep him a hot name around the NFL. Either way, having Mayer back in the fold is a net positive for the Raiders, no matter how things shake out.
