Michael Mayer reacts to Raiders drafting Brock Bowers

Over the weekend, Michael Mayer offered his first public comments about the Las Vegas Raiders making fellow tight end Brock Bowers the 13th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft roughly one year after Las Vegas selected Mayer via a second-round selection.

"He's fast," Mayer said about Bowers while speaking with Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, as shared by Jeremy Bergman of the NFL's website. "He's got great hands. He can block. He can do it all. I feel like we can both do it all. I think we're gonna be dangerous. I think we're gonna have a great offense. That's kind of all I've got to say about it. It's going to be a lot of fun."

The Raiders were linked with multiple quarterback prospects ahead of the draft but ultimately were unable to prevent the Washington Commanders from choosing signal-caller Jayden Daniels with the second pick. 

Las Vegas reportedly "would have considered" taking former Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had Penix dropped to pick No. 13, but the Atlanta Falcons selected him with the eighth choice. 

Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce plans to hold a summer quarterback competition between 2023 fourth-round draft pick Aidan O'Connell and journeyman Gardner Minshew. Pierce also wants to rely on a TE-heavy passing attack that could allow Mayer to flourish playing alongside Bowers. 

"Look, our whole job is to win ball games," Mayer added during his comments. "As an offense, we need to score touchdowns, and that's what we're going to do to the best of our ability. We can play a lot of 12 personnel, we can play a lot of 11, we've got a lot of weapons. I think you guys know that: We've got a lot of weapons. I already met Brock. I've been practicing with him for a week. He's a great guy, so it's been good."

Mayer finished his rookie season with just 27 catches for 304 yards and two touchdowns over 14 games. He'll look to build chemistry with both O'Connell and Minshew before the 22-year-old attempts to take advantage of defenses focusing on stopping Bowers and All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams during meaningful games this fall.