The Raiders 2023 rookie draft class will play potentially their final season for the Las Vegas Raiders this coming year, and after selected 7 rookies the roster currently only holds three in Tre Tucker (3rd round), Michael Mayer (2nd round), and Aidan O’Connell (4th round) though O’Connell’s roster spot is not a guarantee this season. The Raiders haven’t been overly aggressive when it comes to inking their pending free agents to long-term extensions, but they have been very vocal about multiple players
they would like to retain and build around.
TE Michael Mayer: Re-Sign
I say re-sign for Mayer, but his best interest may be heading to free agency. Mayer hasn’t proven his potential 1000+ yardage capabilities after coming out of Notre Dame, though he’s been a staple in the Raiders offense under four different OC’s in three years, now on his fifth. While behind Brock Bowers, Mayer has filled in well as an injury replacement to Bowers, or to give him a rest. The 6’5, 268-pound tight end turns 25 in July, and he’s going to have a large role with the 2026 Raiders offense. Mayer has logged a career 83 receptions, 788 yards, and three touchdowns in his career, with a wide diversity in his alignments. Mayer has logged 29% of his snaps in the slot, 62% inline, and the rest split at wide or H-Back. Mayer is a high end blocker, he’s done a strong job working as an inline TE to compliment Bowers inline, and should be set up well for a decent payday this off-season. The NFL has seen recent pure blocking TE rise heavily in terms of their value, seen no better than in the 2026 NFL Draft with multiple pure blockers going 1-2 rounds higher than consensus. The Seahawks highly valued blocking from their tight ends, and Mayer should fill a similar role. He’s athletic, a capable route runner, and a very strong receiver as a second tight end. Mayer works the second level well, and unlike Bowers he’s not a true downfield threat, but does a capable job to work short yardage, and his 5.1 YAC/reception rank 11th among TE since 2023. Mayer could be in path to the best season of his career, and seeing him eclipse 500+ yards with Bowers another 1000+ isn’t out of the equation.
WR Tre Tucker: Re-Sign
Tucker is projected a 3 year, 33 million contract with 24 million guaranteed which would put him on a similar contract to that of Jakobi Meyers just three seasons ago. Tucker, won’t turn 26 till March of next season, and the 5’9, 185-pound WR has been a staple for the Raiders passing game as a 2nd or third option, a fair value for his 11M projected mark. Tucker has worked his way from a slot receiver to more of a traditional Z, and that role should stay consistent in 2026 under head coach Klint Kubiak. Tucker has logged just 23.7% of his snaps at slot, and 75.7% at the boundary. Tucker has gradually improved each season, after being a true deep threat his rookie season who struggled with drops, working the middle of the field, and rarely providing much as a YAC threat, to his third season where Tucker ranked 28th among all NFL WR when working between 9 and 17 yards. He’s coming off a 2025 season with 57 receptions, 696 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 5.1 YAC/reception all of which are the highest of his career. Tucker is a receiver that meshes well with Klint Kubiak & Fernando Mendoza allowing the Raiders to work downfield, intermediate, and the outside hashes. I lean that Las Vegas will look to ink Tucker to an extension early in the season, and he should fill a big role for the Raiders in 2026.
QB Aidan O’Connell: Walk
O’Connell is a quality backup quarterback, he’ll never be a true starter, but he’s able to keep a team afloat when necessary. He’s logged a career 62%, 3932 yards, 20 TD, and 11 INT with 3.9% big time throw rate, and a 3% turnover worthy play rate. O’Connell doesn’t provide much as a rusher, he’s stiff in the pocket, and he doesn’t have an excellent arm. The soon to be 28 year old, does well when it comes to his accuracy, decision making, and he has the ability to fit a ball into a fair amount of tight windows. O’Connell is a capable quarterback, but I lean heavily that he’s not on the roster even come the regular season with Las Vegas selecting Fernando Mendoza first overall, and signing Kirk Cousins. Cousins adds a veteran backup, who could start this season, and Mendoza is the Raiders future starting QB. O’Connell can be a backup, but his lack of mobility, average arm, and inability to work as a runner or in mobile pockets doesn’t fully make him a candidate to fit the Kubiak system. O’Connell should have value as a backup quarterback on the open market, and Las Vegas will likely search for a more seasoned backup to help Mendoza in year two, and O’Connell likely seeks another opportunity elsewhere where he could bounce his way into a starting role at a point.
