Raiders fulfill Meyers’ request, trade wide receiver to Jaguars

The Raiders, in a move that reflects the shifting priorities inside their building, traded wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars on Tuesday before the NFL trade deadline.

Jacksonville gave up a fourth- and sixth-round pick in the 2026 draft for Meyers, who requested a trade in training camp after it became clear he and the club could not agree on a contract extension to keep him in Las Vegas.

The Jaguars were motivated to make a deal after rookie wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter suffered a knee injury last week in practice. Wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown were then hurt in Jacksonville’s overtime victory over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.

The Jaguars made the trade for Meyers without an extension in place. Jacksonville (5-3) will now try to make the playoffs in a competitive AFC.

The Raiders, on the other hand, are looking to the future. Trading Meyers opens the door for rookie wide receivers Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton Jr. to get more playing time.

The team also added two more picks to its arsenal. The Raiders are projected to have 11 selections in the 2026 draft, including compensatory picks in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds after they let several free agents depart in the offseason.

Short-term impact

Meyers, who will turn 29 on Sunday, and the Raiders (2-6) have been at an impasse in contract talks since March.

The team opted to hold onto him to start the season despite his trade request. But as the losses mounted, the Raiders decided it was better to move him.

Meyers, who joined the team on a three-year, $33 million deal as a free agent in 2023, will leave behind a huge void. He had 191 catches for 2,186 yards and 12 touchdowns in 38 games with the Raiders. He set career highs in catches (87) and yards (1,027) last season.

Meyers has a team-high 33 receptions this season for 352 yards.

“Sometimes we have to approach it as though a player got hurt, he’s out of a game, then what do you do? It’s the next guys up,” offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said Tuesday. “So (veteran wide receiver Tyler) Lockett and Bech and Dont’e and those guys will have to step up, and we’ll go from there.”

Bech should replace Meyers as the primary slot receiver. The 22-year-old, selected in the second round out of TCU, has seven catches for 73 yards this season.

“Whenever your number is called, no matter the circumstance, you’ve got to be ready to perform,” said Bech, who has played 134 of 479 offensive snaps this season.

Long-term outlook

Raiders coach Pete Carroll, as recently as Monday, seemed hesitant to make any moves that would impact the team’s short-term goals.

“No, I’m not thinking that way. It never comes to my mind at all,” Carroll said.

Carroll, 74, has preached to his team to “always compete” since being hired in January. He didn’t look ready to back down from that stance despite the Raiders’ poor start.

“We’re trying to get better ongoing, right now, and see what we can get done,” Carroll said Monday.

Any hope of the Raiders making moves to compete this season ended with their loss to the Jaguars, however. The team’s focus needs to go to evaluating its young players and preparing for a critical offseason.

Trading Meyers leaves the Raiders with plenty of picks in next year’s draft. They’re also projected to have $103 million in cap space in the offseason, the third-most in the NFL, according to the website Over The Cap.

Expect the roster to look a lot different by the start of next training camp. Trading Meyers is only the start of the rebuild.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.