Jakobi Meyers and the Raiders have been negotiating a new deal for months, and based on Meyers’ comments this week, there’s no reason to believe a resolution to their contract squabble is imminent.
For a wide range of reasons, contract talks between the Raiders and Meyers have been complicated and there have been rumors that GM John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll haven’t been entirely on the same page in terms of how to approach Meyers’ future with the team.
This week on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast, Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said he has a “suspicion” there may be some truth to those rumors but also mentioned an interesting dynamic on the working relationship between Spytek and Carroll.
According to Carpenter, Spytek has full control over the roster, but often defers to Carroll.
“Ultimately, John Spytek, it’s his call. But he likes to do, at least he has up to this point, a very collaborative approach with Pete Carroll,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“John [Spytek] has not told me this and Pete [Carroll] has not told me this. But people within the organization have made it very clear to me that if John and Pete were to disagree, for the most part, John is going to go with Pete. That’s what people in the organization have said to me,” Carpenter continued.
“I think there are a few places on the roster you can look at, and several places maybe on the roster you can look at and say that that probably meshes with what I’ve been told. And really only, so, yeah, I actually believe that because of the people who told me, but it varies with every organization. I know some organizations where the general manager does not give a rip what anybody thinks, but Pete likes to listen to all of his coaches, so does John, to John’s credit, take that information and assimilate it, then Pete and John hash it out and talk about how they want to do it.”
The assumption has been that Carroll would like to get Meyers a new deal before the start of the season, but it would make sense that Spytek would be inclined to lean on his own judgement when it comes to the more consequential contracts on the roster.
On a contract like what the Raiders and Meyers have been negotiating, there’s also a good chance minority owner Tom Brady has been involved to some degree.
Mark Davis acknowledged this week that Brady’s role is to “take this organization into the future on the football side” and that would presumably mean he has input on the roster and the contracts that are doled out.
It would make sense that Brady has input on a deal that would potentially cost the Raiders $20+ million per year.
As for Meyers, he discussed his contract status this week and every indication is that he’ll be on the field this year with or without a new deal.
“I asked [for a trade], they said ‘no.’ That’s where that stopped,” Meyers said with a laugh. “I’m going to keep doing my job until something shakes out either way. I don’t know which way it’s going to go, but I’ll be ready for whatever.”
x: @raidersbeat
Spytek doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in me and Carroll is old and set in his ways. They need to look at Howie Roseman in Philly and emulate what he does because our track record with GM and coaches is atrocious and from the looks of things this off season nothing has changed.
He shouldn’t be deferring to Carroll. Coaches never look @ long range. Then again this is Hondo, so who knows what real.
If You believe That Jacoby is a Top 25 receiver and/or that he is Our Best Wide receiver Extend him two years for 52 Million total Value of Contract for 2025-2026-2027 with 32 Million Guaranteed over the three years on the contract… He is acting like a Man – a Real Professional while the Front Office is acting like Chumps…
Meyers isn’t a difference maker. He’s a solid player but it easily possible Thornton becomes a better player. Plus, Bowers is our guy
It seems like kind of a sucker move to me where a young, first time GM is deferring to a 73 year old HC who has prioritized winning now with a team that went 4-13 last year.
I’m not sure how that affects the Myers dynamic, though. Myers absolutely helps the Raiders this year. But is he likely to help the next contending Raiders team (whenever that is)? That’s hard to imagine. The only thing I can think of is the trade offers for Myers aren’t great right now, and Spytek thinks he’s going to potentially get a better return later with Myers on his current deal.
This was and is another failure of Mark Davis. Brady needs to have absolutely zero say in anything football related. His by his own admission 1st QB he wanted was overdrafted and was not surprisingly cut and Practiced squad learning. His 1st choice for a GM was his old roommate, teammate, and friend as GM. The coach he selects after Mark and him decided not to even offer Ben Johnson a contract was a 74 yr old who’s last good season was a long time ago. Again this all still is on Mark Davis because he allowed the Patriot cheater to buy a portion of the team for an undervalued amount.
Even though Bowers is our top pass catcher we still need good WR otherwise teams will just double team Bowers. Looking like a 7 win season.