Silver And Black Pride
We have more Las Vegas Raiders football this weekend with the preseason matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. But first, we have this week’s mailbag column to go over, touching on training camp, the outlook for this season and Jakobi Meyers’ contract situation.
Q: What are your thoughts on why Jakobi Meyers has not been extended yet? Do you think it is still a possibility that a deal gets done before the season opener?
A: It’s definitely still a possibility that Meyers gets an extension before the season opener, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it happens in the time between cutdown day (Tuesday, August 26) and Week 1 in New England (September 7). Also, Meyers hasn’t set a deadline where a deal has to get done before the start of the season, so we could see it happen in the fall.
As for why the wideout hasn’t been extended yet, the new regime talked about wanting to get to know Kolton Miller more and see how Miller practices before agreeing to a long-term contract. I’d imagine it’s the same situation with Meyers, just the front office prioritized the left tackle since Miller plays the more premium/valuable position. Adding to the latter, Meyers isn’t the true “WR1” for the Raiders; Brock Bowers is.
One factor that gives me pause in thinking Jakobi will get an extension is that Las Vegas just spent three draft picks on wide receivers: Jack Bech (round 2), Dont’e Thornton (round 4), and Tommy Mellott (round 6). Combine that with Meyers not being brought in by John Spytek and Pete Carroll, and maybe there’s some hesitation from the new regime to extend the 28-year-old who turns 29 in November.
Q: With the plethora of changes the Raiders made during the offseason, one thing appears to have stayed the same: The offensive line cannot run block. Do you have any ideas as to why? Is it the scheme, the players, or some combination of the two?
A: I wouldn’t get too concerned about this right now. It’s been one preseason game where Kolton Miller and Dylan Parham had one run blocking snap each (via Pro Football Focus), DJ Glaze had four, while Jordan Meredith and Jackson Powers-Johnson have been flipping positions throughout training camp. Also, it’s a new offense that everyone is still trying to get comfortable with.
The majority of offensive linemen who got a significant amount of playing time last week are young guys who are still getting their feet wet in the NFL. Thayer Munford Jr. is the only guy I’d be concerned with, but Munford is a backup who, ideally, will only see the field sparingly anyway.
Q: Is management invested in Thomas Booker IV like a high draft pick because they traded a former starter for him?
A: No. It’s important to remember that Jakorian Bennett was drafted by Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels, two general managers and head coaches ago for the Silver and Black. So, Spytek and Carroll...
