Pjakobi Meyers made a significant career move last offseason when he departed from the New England Patriots and joined the Las Vegas Raiders as a free agent. Now, nearly a year after that decision, Meyers is firmly convinced that he made the right choice.
During an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz” show on Monday, Meyers disclosed that the contract offer he received from the Patriots wasn’t too far off from what the Raiders offered him. However, New England was unwilling to negotiate beyond their initial price point.
When asked whether he felt vindicated by his decision not to settle for the Patriots’ offer and potentially making them regret not re-signing him, Meyers expressed confidence in his choice. He believed that the Patriots could have benefited from his presence in their offense if they had been more flexible with negotiations.
Meyers stated, “I do as far as those lines. I feel like now you can see, like they just freed me a little bit and let me kind of go out there and do other things or make plays and try to really gear toward me. It would have paid off.”
Instead of offering Meyers a slightly higher salary to retain him, the Patriots allowed him to leave and signed JuJu Smith-Schuster as his replacement. The outcomes for the two players were drastically different during the season.
Meyers had a standout season with 71 receptions for 807 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns. On the other hand, Smith-Schuster played in just 11 games, managing 29 receptions for 260 yards and a single touchdown.
Given this performance contrast, Meyers, who has expressed a preference for his experience with the Raiders over his time in New England, believes that the Patriots made a mistake by not keeping him on their roster.