Colts should take a late-round flyer on Raiders TE Michael Mayer

The Colts could allocate its top draft capital elsewhere by addressing one of its biggest needs with a trade for this 2023 second-round pick.

It’s no secret that the Indianapolis Colts desperately lack a viable tight end room heading into the 2025 season, particularly from a pass-catching standpoint. Indy’s production at the position has been lacking ever since longtime Colts tight end Jack Doyle retired. Now more than ever, the Colts need to adjust their batting stance and swing for a tight end that can provide both reliability and production in the passing game.

Thankfully for Indianapolis, this year’s draft class is littered with intriguing prospects at the position. From top targets in Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Colston Loveland to middle-round targets in LSU’s Mason Taylor, Miami’s Elijah Arroyo, and Texas’s Gunnar Helm, the Colts have options as to how they want to attack the top of the draft.

While this draft class offers an abundance of options at the position, the kicker is that this free-agent class of tight ends is something left to be desired. As it stands, tight end needy teams like the Colts are nearly forced into finding their next tight end almost exclusively through the draft. However, in recent days it has been reported that third-year Raiders TE and former 2nd-round pick Michael Mayer has become available via trade after the rookie year emergence of Brock Bowers.

Mayer has totaled just 460 receiving yards and two touchdowns through two seasons in the NFL, though the combination of poor quarterback play and an all-world talent like Brock Bowers coming into the fray speaks to why this slow start of sorts has transpired the way it has.

For years at the college level, Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers were seen as the 1a/1b tight ends of their time. While it’s as evident as ever that Bowers is in a league of his own talent-wise, Mayer is no slouch of an NFL tight end. Mayer reportedly dealt with a personal issue that kept him out of six games early this past season, but he would return in Week 11 to finish his sophomore season.

Some might see the Raiders electing to draft Brock Bowers with its first-round pick the year after drafting Mayer in the second as a reason to pass on his talents, though it seems to me like Las Vegas chose to take the best player available so that they could pair the two for years to come — one as the primary in-line, traditional tight end of yesteryear (Mayer) while playing to the other’s strengths as a slot-based pass catcher (Bowers).

This vision came to life in their lone year together, but after an inconsistent sophomore campaign, perhaps a fresh start as the team’s de facto TE1 is what Mayer needs to reach his potential. With all of these factors in place, therein lies an avenue for a TE-needy team like the Colts to pounce on the low-risk, high-reward opportunity to nab Mayer with a late Day 3 (rounds 4-7) draft pick.

With all that Mayer’s resume has lacked through two seasons in the NFL, a strong profile to take a shot on remains. With only a few drops throughout his career thus far, Mayer offers strong hands paired with plus run-after-catch ability.

For comparison’s sake in regards to Mayer’s threat with the ball in his hands, Bowers hauled in 112 passes and scampered for nearly 1,200 receiving yards this past season while only forcing four missed tackles. In two seasons, Mayer has forced 13 missed tackles on less than half (48) of Bowers’ reception total. They are by no means the same player, hence the Raiders’ aforementioned usage of the two players in 2024, but this goes to show that Mayer can be a force in his own right if/when given the chance.

At 6’4”, 265 lbs, Mayer’s traditional tight end frame screams in-line usage, though his receiver-esque release package at the line of scrimmage presents a type of positionless versatility that someone like Colts head coach Shane Steichen would benefit from. Not to mention, there’s plenty from Mayer at the in-line spot on film that suggests he can more than hold his end of the bargain in that regard.

When it comes to just how badly they need receiving help at the position, the Colts ranked near or dead last in every receiving category amongst tight end rooms leaguewide. According to StatMuse, here’s how Indy’s tight end room fared in 2024 compared to teams across the NFL:

Targets: 75 (29th)

Receptions: 39 (32nd)

Catch Percentage: 52% (32nd)

Receiving Yards: 467 (31st)

Receiving TDs: 2 (t-31st)

1st Downs: 22 (31st)

The Colts could very well choose to forgo the Michael Mayer sweepstakes and focus its TE acquisition through the NFL Draft, but trading a 6th or 7th-round draft pick for his services would address one of Indy’s biggest needs while also presenting an opportunity to allocate its top draft capital at varying positions.

While this move in question doesn’t provide much continuity for the future, an emergence of sorts would turn it into one. Forgoing a top draft prospect like Warren or Loveland to bet on an otherwise unproven tight end who only has two years remaining on his rookie contract may seem like a ‘Bargain Bin Ballard’ move to some fans, I’d argue that the timeline, which lines up with Indy’s entire offensive nucleus (Quenton Nelson, Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., and Josh Downs), offers a collective out for this era that was built by general manager Chris Ballard.

If this experiment goes sour within the next two seasons, there’s a good chance the franchise QB experiment ultimately failed which would, in turn, relieve both Anthony Richardson and Chris Ballard of their time in Indianapolis. The jury is still out on whether or not Richardson will be able to put it together and show enough as a third-year quarterback to remain the team’s starter for the future and beyond, but affording him as many weapons as possible is equally paramount to his endeavors as an NFL player.