Grading the trade: Las Vegas Raiders make the most out of a weird situation by getting draft capital for Jordan Meredith
The Las Vegas Raiders traded offensive guard Jordan Meredith to the New York Jets for a draft pick.
The Las Vegas Raiders are in the middle of cutting their roster down from 90 players to 53. And, to make that bit easier, they’ve made a trade with the New York Jets. General Manager John Spytek is sending offensive guard/center Jordan Meredith to the Jets.
According to reports, Vegas is sending a 2029 seventh-rounder and is receiving a 2027 sixth-rounder. To me, this suggests Vegas wasn’t really going to keep Meredith on the roster. New York inquired about him and wanted to ensure they got Meredith, whereas Vegas cutting him wouldn’t make that a certainty for the Jets. So, the Raiders are reuniting Geno Smith with his center from last season.
The Raiders were hoping, coming into this season, that Meredith could be a good backup center or guard. That just hasn’t been the case. Meredith has been the reason, a few times, Fernando Mendoza has been sacked in the preseason. There are a few plays where he’s just been obliterated. Last year, he was one of the worst centers in the entire league. Fans and media alike didn’t see a path to the roster. But there’s a very weird detail about this whole situation that we must mention.
Jordan Meredith was fairly good in 2024
In 2024, Meredith played a bit of offensive guard. And, when he didn’t, he was decent at the position. According to Sports Info Solutions, Meredith played nine games in 2024 and only had 10 blown blocks. He also had just three penalties, all false starts. He wasn’t bad by any means in 2024. In 2025, that’s when things went bad.
He allowed 15 pressures right up the middle at the center position. Now, the offensive line coaching wasn’t good. The offense was bad. And Geno Smith was also very bad. But there was evidence in this preseason and training camp that 2026 could be a bad year for him again. Luckily, the Jets wanted him.
