Over the last couple of NFL seasons, Jakobi Meyers has emerged as one of the most reliable, if unexciting, wide receivers in the sport. Now, the Las Vegas Raiders’ top wideout would like a change of scenery.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, Meyers met with the team’s front office to request a trade. However, the request was not granted and subsequent negotiations regarding a new contract also fell through. The situation became even more interesting when the team reunited with veteran wideout Amari Cooper on a one-year deal later in the afternoon after the Meyers news broke.
While a move doesn’t seem imminent, anything can happen in the NFL. If the franchise does indeed change direction regarding their top wideout’s future in Sin City, what teams may emerge as potential suitors? Here are the top three landing spots (plus a bonus pick) for Jakobi Meyers, as well as the potential fantasy football impact of each.
Top three trade destinations for Jakobi Meyers
New York Jets
No team in football sees a more dire situation at wideout than the New York Jets. Garrett Wilson sits atop the depth chart as the bona fide top option, but beyond the fourth-year talent, the depth chart appears barren. At the moment journeyman Josh Reynolds and veteran Allen Lazard project as the team’s second and third options at the position. The former finds himself on his sixth team in nine professional seasons and has never tallied more than 52 catches or 618 yards in a single campaign. The latter enters year eight of his own career with highs of 60 catches and 788 yards. Both players are serviceable, but neither strikes much fear into a defense and both fit the definition of “just a guy.”
Looking past those two, New York sees fourth-round rookie Arian Smith and veteran Tyler Johnson as its next-best options in the receiver room. Plus, 2024 third-rounder Malachi Corley may not even make the final roster.
With one of the thinnest wideout groups in football, the Jets feel like an obvious fit as a trade destination for Meyers. The 28-year-old entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and has improved with each season. He posted 87 catches for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns last year, career-best marks despite playing for a 4-13 Raiders team with shaky quarterback play throughout the campaign. Meyers ranked 24th in PFF receiver grade last season while primarily playing outside, but has shown an ability to shift into the slot with the 29th-best grade while taking 58% of his snaps inside with the New England Patriots in 2022. While the Jets should prioritize a run-heavy approach this season under new head coach Aaron Glenn, adding a second real threat in the passing game for quarterback Justin Fields should become a priority here.
As for Meyers’ fantasy value here, he’d certainly take a hit in that regard with a move to New York. Fields hasn’t managed to support multiple high-end pass catchers through his career thus far, and the run-happy nature of how the Jets likely run their offense wouldn’t help that case either. This feels like a much better scenario for real-world football than Meyers’ fantasy production.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The reasoning for a trade to the Steelers bears some similarities to the case for the Jets. Pittsburgh made some noise this offseason when they shook up their receiver room by trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys, only to replace him with DK Metcalf and then offer the former Seattle Seahawks star a massive contract extension. He’s locked in as the alpha alongside new quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but the rest of the depth chart raises some questions as well.
After Metcalf, the next names up are Calvin Austin III, veteran Robert Woods, and 2024 third-rounder Roman Wilson. Austin III caught 36 balls for 548 yards last season while showing some ability as a deep threat, and Wilson seems positioned to take plenty of snaps after missing his entire rookie season due to injury. However, Woods seems past his prime and the other two haven’t proven much, if anything, at the NFL level.
Wilson’s more of a burner who works in the middle and deeper down the field — at least based on his collegiate sample — and Austin did take 52% of his snaps from the slot last season after lining up there just 29% of the time as a rookie in 2023. Realistically, he and Meyers could work interchangeably in the flanker and slot roles while Metcalf takes over starting X duties the vast majority of the time. A potential trade does make the Steelers better in real life, but what about fantasy football purposes?
Even if Rodgers doesn’t have the same arm talent he used to, he could still support two pass catchers, especially in the quick game. However, the addition of tight end Jonnu Smith further complicates things. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith loves to run things through that position and while the Steelers are a little more flexible in terms of game planning than one may assume, they’ll still most likely lean on the run. Inserting Meyers into this offense likely drops his weekly consistency a notch from the 14.5 FPPG he averaged last year, but Pittsburgh is still more fantasy-friendly than New York.
San Francisco 49ers
With two of the more gross (but realistic) options out of the way, let’s look toward the West Coast for a more intriguing destination. The San Francisco 49ers seem outright cursed based on the injuries to their skill position groups as wideout Brandon Aiyuk continues to rehab a torn ACL and MCL suffered last season and won’t return until midyear from the sound of things. Jauan Jennings wants a new contract and is dealing with a calf injury that’s kept him sidelined throughout training camp, and Jacob Cowing could be sidelined for several weeks with a hamstring issue. Even Russell Gage, a depth option, is dealing with a sprained MCL.
Second-year talent and 2024 first-round selection Ricky Pearsall finally got healthy, but even he dealt with a variety of soft-tissue injuries during his rookie campaign and this year’s training camp. The depth doesn’t look great and tight end George Kittle can only catch so many passes, so adding another option to the pass-catching corps makes sense, even after the team traded for a reclamation project in Skyy Moore last week. Meyers would absolutely present an upgrade over multiple options currently on the depth chart, and the possibility of Jennings leaving due to his contract dispute means the 49ers may enter the market for another wideout. While they have cap space at the moment, San Francisco will see Brock Purdy’s huge contract extension kick in next season and Meyers himself is projected to enter unrestricted free agency during next offseason.
This undoubtedly feels like a situation the Niners will sniff around. Neglecting to do so would arguably be organizational malpractice. If Meyers were to come to the Bay Area, he’d share targets with a couple more mouths than with the Raiders but could also see an uptick in efficiency along with increased scoring opportunities. Sacrificing a little bit of volume for better upside could improve Meyers’ fantasy stock, though this move feels less likely than the others.
Honorable mention: Minnesota Vikings
Finally, there’s a sleeper team worth a shout in this scenario. While the Minnesota Vikings roster plenty of talent in the receiving corps thanks to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addision and T.J. Hockenson, they have a noticeable drop-off in talent after those three names. Rumors have swirled regarding the team’s interest in adding another wide receiver to complement those weapons, especially with Addison facing a three-game suspension to begin the regular season.
With Jalen Nailor and Tai Felton seeing snaps in three-wideout sets, the Vikings do arguably have a need at the position. After all, putting rookie signal-caller J.J. McCarthy in position to succeed should remain at the forefront of the franchise’s priorities, especially in a difficult NFC North with legitimate hopes to compete deep into the NFL Playoffs.
With this landing spot, Meyers would likely return to the slot role on a regular basis since neither Jefferson nor Addison have ever logged greater than 24% of snaps from the slot over a full season. While the latter remains out with his suspension, Meyers could see plenty of targets in an offensive scheme which gets the most out of the players who operate in it — after all, there are few head coaches better with X’s and O’s than Kevin O’Connell. Even once Addison returns, Meyers could put up some great numbers while the other receiving talents soak up much of the defensive attention, so this becomes another case of lower target volume with greater efficiency and more high-value opportunities.
On the off chance Minnesota makes a move for Meyers, this can prove a home-run trade for both sides. However, it does feel unlikely, which is why the Vikings land as a sleeper team with this honorable mention.
