{"id":729610,"date":"2026-02-04T20:41:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729610\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:41:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:41:23","slug":"panthers-raiders-could-connect-on-massive-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729610\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers, Raiders Could Connect on Massive Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Panthers have established themselves as a postseason threat, but there is still work to do, and they could trade for Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer. According to Bleacher Report<\/a>, the source believes the Panthers may target Mayer in a possible trade scenario to improve the pass game for quarterback Bryce Young. Mayer isn\u2019t the only trade target on the list, but Cole Kmet<\/a> is another intriguing option. However, the Panthers have a better shot at landing Mayer over Kmet, depending on whether the Bears want to deal him to an NFC team, which is unlikely.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Mayer, the tight end lost his starting role since the Raiders drafted standout Brock Bowers in the first-round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Las Vegas could use the draft capital by sending Mayer either way, as there isn\u2019t a strong role for him in this offense that will likely be rebuilt.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nov 23, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer (87) walks on field before the game against the Cleveland Browns at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
\nPanthers, Raiders Could Connect on Massive Michael Mayer Trade<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Panthers have a winning roster if the team can continue to build their offense that already has bursts of talent from Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan. Mayer isn\u2019t going to drastically change the offense overnight, but he offers some bolstering in a backup role behind Tommy Tremble<\/a> despite extending him to a new contract just last offseason.<\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s a low-stakes decision for the Panthers. Carolina has improved their defense ferociously this past offseason, so it shouldn\u2019t be surprising if they put all of their focus on its offense. Here are some other possible destinations for Mayer to shine and for a much larger role than the one he has in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Other Potential Fits
\nBaltimore Ravens<\/p>\n

The Baltimore Ravens are expected to lose Isaiah Likely during free agency<\/a>, and with the new under Jesse Minter, the team could be overhauled. Mark Andrews<\/a> isn\u2019t losing his spot, but he might be on the hot seat if he can\u2019t live up to the pressure this upcoming 2026 regular season. Either way, the team targeting Mayer in a possible trade scenario makes sense to make up for the void that Likely will leave.<\/p>\n

Mayer isn\u2019t going to be the most blossomed big-bodied receiver in this unit, but when joining a team like the Ravens, he should have a decent shot of getting more playing time than he did in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Falcons<\/p>\n

Just like the Ravens, the Atlanta Falcons will most likely lose Kyle Pitts<\/a> due to his outstanding production. Pitts played his final season as a Falcon, where he could earn a massive payday this offseason. New head coach Kevin Stefanski will instill his own philosophy, which means overhauling this offense for Michael Penix Jr. While David Njoku from the Cleveland Browns sounds like a more logical fit for Stefanski to bring over, Mayer is a safe, bargain grab for a trade.<\/p>\n

Washington Commanders<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders will need to draft a tight end this year. Despite getting Ben Sinnott last year, he hasn\u2019t done anything yet to put him in a position to handle the full-time role in this offense. There is no word on Zach Ertz<\/a>, who suffered a gruesome torn ACL to end his possibly his NFL career. If he decides to leave elsewhere, the Commanders could spark a low-stakes, safety net trade for Mayer while they continue to get Sinnott up to speed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Carolina Panthers have established themselves as a postseason threat, but there is still work to do, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[2591,849,235,260,2584,2567,7,4698,6153,4241,6851,6,236,5405,10420,10120,10421,7025],"class_list":["post-729610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-carolina-panthers","tag-atlanta-falcons-news","tag-baltimore-ravens-news","tag-carolina","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-carolinapanthers","tag-football","tag-isaiah-likely","tag-kyle-pitts","tag-las-vegas-raiders-news","tag-michael-mayer","tag-nfl","tag-panthers","tag-panthers-featured","tag-ravens-featured","tag-tommy-tremble","tag-washington-commanders-news","tag-zach-ertz"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116014304720801223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}