Raiders Forced to Break 4-Year Tradition for Michael Mayer as TE Pens $45 Million Contract Extension

There had been an unspoken tradition in Las Vegas for almost four years, but the team decided to change that for tight end Michael Mayer. The Las Vegas Raiders went through major structural changes in recent seasons. General manager Dave Ziegler was fired midway through the 2023 campaign, and since then, the franchise moved from one placeholder to another until owner Mark Davis hired John Spytek to take the reins in January 2025.

With that overhaul, the Raiders were forced into a move they hadn’t made since Ziegler was fired: extending a player on his rookie contract. Faced with a sudden roster crisis as star tight end Brock Bowers is dealing with an injury, the Raiders gave a contract extension to Mayer, whom they drafted in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

“Unbelievably, Michael Mayer is the first #Raiders player extended on a rookie deal since… Hunter Renfrow in 2022,” NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported on X. “The #Raiders have agreed to terms on an 3-year extension with TE Michael Mayer worth $45M with $30M guaranteed. The $15M APY ranks 4th among current TE contracts.”

Mayer is expected to take Brock Bowers’ spot in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins. Bowers is sidelined after a meniscus trim and is expected to miss at least the first week or two. In 2025, Mayer finished with 35 receptions for 328 yards and one touchdown in 13 games and 12 starts.

The signing makes sense for Las Vegas. What is surprising is that this is the first time in four years the Raiders have extended a rookie. The last time it happened was with wide receiver Hunter Renfrow in 2022. He was in the final year of his four-year rookie deal when the Raiders extended him with a two-year, $32.3 million contract.

That contract was the third extension the Raiders gave under the regime of Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels. First, they extended edge rusher Maxx Crosby with a four-year, $94 million contract in March, then quarterback Derek Carr with a three-year, $120.5 million deal in April, and then Renfrow in June.

After that, the Raiders did not give that chance to any of their draftees. One of the major reasons was that McDaniels and Ziegler, after taking over, were aggressively trying to move on from players drafted by the previous regime of general manager Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden.

Instead, they made a series of mistakes that ultimately ended with McDaniels being fired midway through the 2023 season. One of the biggest errors was sending their first- and second-round picks to the Green Bay Packers for wide receiver Davante Adams. Because they lacked high draft picks in 2022, they had no elite, early-round rookie talent from that class eligible for a premium extension three years later.

Although the new regime under Spytek hasn’t extended many rookies yet, Las Vegas has handed out some record-breaking contracts to veterans. In March 2025, they gave Crosby a three-year, $106.5 million extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

Apart from him, they also gave two-time All-Pro punter AJ Cole a four-year, $15.8 million contract extension with $11 million guaranteed, which made Cole the highest-paid punter in the NFL.

Looking at all the changes under Spytek and new head coach Klint Kubiak, it is safe to say they are trying to build a strong and consistent set of starters for the Raiders, something they have not had for several years. Will it pay off? That remains to be seen, but after the money they have spent, the hope is that it does.

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