The Raiders have taken some criticism for the way they addressed their wide receiver room in the offseason but based on a series of comments from Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers, the team got the wideout they were targeting in March.
By all accounts, this year’s class of free agent wide receivers wasn’t remarkable, but Jalen Nailor was apparently the player the Raiders wanted from the start.
“They went and targeted [Nailor],” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show.
“They made him a priority in free agency. He wasn’t the last guy standing there. They called him before they ever even threw some numbers at him and was like, ‘Hey, we want you a part of this.’ So to me, that tells me that there’s an idea… there’s obviously a plan there. We just don’t know what it is.”
On paper, Tre Tucker might be the Raiders’ no. 1 wide receiver, but at 5’8″ and 182 pounds, Tucker’s role in Klint Kubiak’s offense might be limited in some ways.
Nailor, on the other hand, is listed at the same height as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had a career year with Kubiak in 2025. Nailor doesn’t have Smith-Njigba’s skill set, but he might be asked at times to fill the role Smith-Njigba had in Seattle.
Whatever Nailor’s role ends up being, it’s worth noting that he wasn’t just a consolation prize in free agency. The decision makers in Las Vegas had their sights set on Nailor and two months from now we should have a little insight into how Kubiak plans to use him.
Will the Raiders add a veteran WR before the start of the season?
Last month, Myers said he doesn’t expect the Raiders to make an aggressive move for a wide receiver before the start of the season.
“Having a veteran wide receiver helps a lot and is a good best friend to a quarterback, especially a young quarterback because you can count on him. You could trust him. That’s what you saw even last year with Keenan Allen there in LA with the Chargers that when it was third and got to have it, he would made himself available for Justin Herbert. Those are the advantages right there,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.
“Maybe this is blind faith… [but] I trust Kubiak to be able to scheme these guys open and use what he can do, his skill set as a play caller, to their advantage. I go back to Speedy Naylor, if he’s stretching the field, that opens up the underneath in the middle for a guy like [Brock] Bowers and Michael Mayer. I just think that that’s how they butter their bread this year. I really do. I don’t think they are going to need that true no. 1 receiver this year.”
x: @raidersbeat