When it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025, free agency and the draft can’t be their own avenue to build a credible contender for a title defense.
Now granted, the Eagles can check off some major boxes with those two avenues. They could bring back their defensive leader, Zack Baun, in a few weeks in free agency and have opportunities to add a legit speedster like Texas’ Matthew Golden or Isaiah Bond to really take the top off of their offense vertically.
But if there’s one element of the team-building tool chest that Howie Roseman has used to exceptional effect is the trade, both of players and of draft picks, with many of the team’s top players, from AJ Brown, to Darius Slay, DeVonta Smith, Jordan Mailata, and CJ Gardner-Johnson being acquired as part of a trade one way or another.
Sitting right around the middle of the pack with $22 million of cap space and seven draft picks to work with – a first, second, third, fourth, and three fifth-rounders – the Eagles will be able to make moves as they see fit, but if a really good deal comes along, don’t be surprised if Roseman is willing to push a few chips to the center of the table to take a shot at a veteran upgrade with some experience in the NFL already on their resume.
One such deal that could potentially be done? How about a trade for Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer, the soon-to-be-third-year tight end who lost his starting spot to Rookie of the Year finalist Brock Bowers in 2024? With the 35th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft reportedly being given an opportunity to seek a trade following a weird run in 2024, the Eagles have a chance to swoop right in and land Mayer on the cheap, giving them the perfect TE2 for now and an eventual replacement for Dallas Goedert when he’s ready to hang up his cleats at some point down the line.
Michael Mayer won’t cost an arm and a leg to acquire
For non-Raiders fans who haven’t been watching one of the less inspiring teams in the NFL over the past two seasons, the story of Mayer is rather simple: he did some good things as a rookie, catching 27 of the 40 passes thrown his way for 304 yards and two touchdowns, before becoming a TE2 behind Bowers, who turned in one of the best rookies seasons of all time.
Mayer went from averaging 11.2 yards per catch to just 7.4, caught a lower percentage of his passes, and just generally underwhelmed versus expectations. Granted, some of that could be because he took some time away from the team early on to focus on personal matters, which certainly couldn’t have helped with his adjustment to playing with Bowers. But when the Raiders needed a traditional tight end to play alongside the Clemson product’s more joker-y game, Mayer underwhelmed versus expectations.
Now afforded a chance to test the market and potentially look for a more appropriate place to continue on his NFL career, he likely won’t cost close to the high second-round pick the Raiders used to draft him in the first place. For a team like the Eagles, who have found great success acquiring players like Timmy Jernigan, Kenny Pickett, and Jahan Dotson from opposing teams midway through their rookie contracts, Mayer could be the next success story in that lineage.
Mike Mayer could be a weapon in the Eagles’ run game
Though he was pretty good for the Raiders as a rookie, ranking top-5 in targets, yards, and receptions among other first-year tight ends, Mayer was widely considered one of the best tight ends coming out of Notre Dame in 2023 for his do-it-all offensive game.
One of the top tight ends in program history, with multiple Notre Dame records to boot, where Mayer really shined for the Fighting Irish was his blocking, with Lance Zierlein of NFL.com noting that the Kentucky native functioned like an extension of the offensive line when afforded a chance to do work in-line.
“Big combination tight end with the demeanor for run blocking and the size for tough, chain-moving catches underneath. Mayer will come into the league with better blocking technique than most tight ends in this year’s draft. He’s built for in-line duty and was an extension of the Notre Dame offensive line at times,” Zierlein wrote. “His feet are a little heavy getting into and through his routes, but he has the hand strength and contact balance to win heavily contested catches on the first two levels. Mayer might need to polish his route running to become a high-volume target, but he’s a safe pick and will be a good pro who can become a plus player as a run blocker and pass catcher.”
While the Eagles do have one of the better blocking tight ends in the NFL on their roster already in Goedert, he was initially drafted after Philadelphia won their last Super Bowl all the way back in 2018, with 2025 set to be his eighth at the NFL level. Even if Goedert isn’t slowing down, allowing him to play more in the slot while Mayer does damage as a run blocker could help to extend the former’s career without negatively impacting the latter’s growth and turn Philadelphia’s 12 personnel grouping into the weapon it should be with Saquon Barkley running behind Jeff Stourland’s offensive line.
The Eagles can draft BPA across the board
So why would the Eagles trade for Mayer when the 2025 NFL Draft is widely considered very deep at the tight end position? Well, on one hand, the Eagles have three fifth-round picks and could likely land Mayer and a seventh or even a sixth-round pick to make a deal happen with the Raiders. With that being said, acquiring Mayer for some Day 3 capital shouldn’t prevent the Eagles from attacking the position with gusto if their board allows another tight end in April.
Why? Because that’s what going BPA is all about: filling holes before the draft so you can take the best player available.
Right now, a TE2 who can help the run and the pass game is a middle-of-the-road need for the Eagles, below defensive end, defensive tackle, and a speedy wide receiver three who can take the top off of opposing defenses, but above depth at cornerback, safety, or quarterback, where the Eagles are likely set unless a really good player slides down to them.
If they enter the draft with just Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, and EJ Jenkins, maybe Roseman and his staff could lean a little further on the position to make sure they are set heading into 2025, but if the position is shored up, they can take a shot on more developmental prospects with higher ceilings who could take a few years to grow Jordan Mailata-style before having to face live bullets.
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