Raiders Trade Former Starting OL In Roster Shakedown
· Yahoo Sports
The Las Vegas Raiders are doing a roster revamp, so it was only a matter of time before a significant starter was given the gate.
That happened to offensive lineman Jordan Meredith, who was a frequent starter at both guard and center, but now he’ll provide interior depth for the New York Jets in a trade that brought back a 2027 sixth-round draft pick in exchange for Meredith and a 2029 seventh round pick. The trade was reported by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, and by other outlets summarizing the Raiders final roster cuts.
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It’s not a major trade, but it is a statement of sorts. Coach Klint Kubiak and GM John Spytek went out and reset the market by signing center Tyler Linderbaum, and moving Meredith sends a signal that last year’s starters won’t be allowed to reproduce the catastrophe that sent the Raiders to a 3-14 season.
The question now is who replaces them, and how to the Raiders elevate the play of those replacements. They’re relying on Linderbaum to get the group to play cohesively, but that’s no substitute for talent, and the Raiders may come to rue their decision to only one make that one monster investment to rebuild their line.
As for Meredith, he played 13 games with 11 starts last season, per Williams, but he was struggling to make the transition to center, where he would have backed up Linderbaum. The center who will probably do that now is Will Putnam, who had a good enough camp that he was named as possible trade bait in just this kind of deal.
The Jets have a significant need for interior line depth, so Meredith fills that need going forward. Money may also have had something to do with this as well, as Meredith is signed for 2026 at $3.5 million, which is a slightly large sum for team like the Raiders that’s doing a complete roster rebuild and is looking for cheap depth to develop.
The trade also gives the Raiders some finality in their offensive line with Meredith now out of the mix. Las Vegas will now have DJ Glaze as the projected starter at right tackle to go with Jackson Powers-Jackson at right guard, Linderbaum at center, Spencer Burford at left guard and Kolton Miller at left tackle.
There’s still a lot of sorting out to do before the Raiders open at home against the Miami Dophins, but at least the different parts and pieces are known now.