In our exclusive interview, the former Las Vegas Raiders GM discusses his favourite moves in NFL free agency and top prospects heading into the Draft.
Former Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock believes Ashton Jeanty would be the ideal pick for his former team in the NFL Draft.
The Raiders have the No. 6 overall pick this year, and Mayock, who ran the Las Vegas front office from 2019 until 2022, believes the Boise State running back would be a perfect match for new head coach Pete Carroll’s brand of physical football, which centres on the running game.
In our exclusive interview, the NFL Draft guru also discusses the most impactful moves of the offseason so far, some of his favourite prospects, and why Cam Ward – the favourite in the NFL betting to be drafted at No. 1 overall – is almost certain to be taken by the Tennessee Titans.
What has been the most impactful move a team has made in NFL free agency so far?
I look at Chicago’s interior offensive line and even though it’s three separate transactions, for me, it’s one cohesive unit that’s going to do more for the most important position in the NFL, which obviously is quarterback, and a really talented young quarterback with Caleb Williams.
Even though Drew Dalman, Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson are three transactions, the way I look at is it two ways: No. 1, they’re way more talented than what was there before. That young quarterback’s going to have an opportunity to step up into a solid pocket.
No. 2, and even more importantly, is the communication of these three veterans. Dalman is 26, Jackson’s 28 and Thuney’s 32, but he’s got some good football left. Because of the communication with these three guys, all the question marks are going to be taken away from Caleb Williams pre-snap. They’re going to know exactly what the protections are, there aren’t going to be free runners coming left, right and up the middle. The protection is going to get solidified.
What I think is cool about it is I watched so much tape of Caleb Williams at USC, and when he was comfortable in the pocket, the ball came out. He has good pocket mechanics but last year he wasn’t comfortable and he held on to the ball too long. I think those three acquisitions solidify something for their offence with Ben Johnson, as the head coach that gives this young quarterback – who I think is immensely talented – a chance to be a much better quarterback this coming year.
What did you think of Stefon Diggs signing with the Patriots and the contract they gave him?
I’m going to be honest, I was surprised at the number of dollars. He’s 32, coming off an ACL, and they’re talking about $69million total with $26million guaranteed. The minutiae or the details of that deal haven’t come out yet. I’m anxious to see them. I did not expect the guarantee for a 32-year-old coming off an ACL to be that high. To me, $26million seems high.
To put it into perspective, I looked at it as two different tranches. Tranche No. 1 was the lower end of the veteran wide receiver scale, with DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams and Brandin Cooks. All three of those guys were kind of in the one- or two-year deal, $5-6million range. Then the next tranche was that high-level tranche with Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp and now Stefon Diggs. Kupp got three years, $45million, Davante Adams got $26million guaranteed. Now we’re seeing a similar amount for Stefon Diggs.
So there’s clearly a separation of the high-end and low-end wide receivers. I thought Stefon would come in somewhere in between. I didn’t see him at the high end. The other guys that are out there, like Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper, again, I think they’re higher than the lower tranche, but should not be anywhere near that upper tranche. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper.
What did you think of how the Patriots have spent their cap space in the offseason?
When you have a lot of money in free agency, it’s like walking into a candy store and being a sweet lover. What you really want to do is you want to eat them all up, but if you eat all the candy, you get a sore stomach.
And it’s a similar analogy in that I love what the Pats did, and here’s why – I think they had two separate groups of free agents. They had immediate impact guys, and they had glue guys in the lower tier, who are guys I love.
The immediate impact guys on offence would be Diggs, and offensive tackle Morgan Moses. OK, he’s 34, you hope he doesn’t break down, but he’s an immediate upgrade and what do we have to do here? Same thing that Chicago has to do – we’ve got to help our young quarterback, so Moses and Diggs are the direct result of that, with immediate impact.
On defence, you get Milton Williams. I’m from Philadelphia, I watch their tape every week. When I was the Raiders GM, we had a high grade on Milton Williams. We loved him, and he’s only 25 years old.
Carlton Davis, immediate impact, and they’ll now have a pair of really talented corners, which they didn’t have last year. And then Harold Landry, who was the second round pick of Mike Vrabel back in 2018. They’re the immediate impact guys.
The glue guys are Robert Spillane, who’s tough as nails. He may only be a two-down linebacker, but I love the way he plays. Mack Hollins came into the league as a special teams guy for the Eagles and has turned into a solid whiteout. He’s an eclectic dude, but on the football field he is a tough, tough player. Marcus Epps, the free safety, Khyiris Tonga, the nose tackle, Schweitzer, a backup interior offensive lineman but nasty and tough. They pick up Garrett Bradbury when he gets cut. I really think they did a nice job of getting the kind of guys that Mike Vrabel wants, along with some guys who are going to make immediate impact.
The Giants signed Russell Wilson to a quarterback room that also includes Jameis Winston. Does that rule them out of taking a quarterback at No. 3 in the draft?
In these kind of things, you always follow the money. I look at the Jameis Winston contract, that was $4million guaranteed. I think the guarantee on Russell Wilson is $10.5million and could get up to $21million with incentives. So between the two of them you’re talking about $14-15million, which is nothing for a veteran quarterback in today’s world.
So I don’t think it takes them out of quarterback play at No. 3 at No. 34 or anywhere in the draft. It’s an intriguing conversation because the head coach and GM are both at risk for losing their jobs going forward so, selfishly, if you’re Brian Daboll and you’re sitting at three and you just signed Russell Wilson, who do you want to take at three? You want to take somebody can help you immediately. So you want to take the Colorado wideout, or you want to take Abdul Carter. You want somebody who can help save your job and make you a better team today. If you’re the GM and the owner, your job is to look at the franchise over time and do the best thing for the franchise.
What I like about the move is that it frees them up to make a correct decision on the quarterback this year, based on a true evaluation rather than necessity. They don’t have to go and get one, but if they love Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart or Tyler Shough, it’s incumbent upon the franchise to go get them.
In recent years, quarterbacks like Sam Darnold, Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield have had success with new teams after struggling earlier in their careers. Who are some quarterbacks around the league with untapped potential?
There’s a fit at every position, but especially at quarterback. You can take a guy in the first round, but if he doesn’t have the right coach, pass protection and skill position players around him to develop, he basically has no shot. By definition, most of the high-level quarterbacks go early in the draft to poor teams.
I remember being at Geno Smith’s pro day a long time ago and going, “wow, this dude can rip it.” I was at Sam Darnold’s pro day, and he can rip it. Both of them got into situations where it’s a quarterback-friendly deal and had success.
A veteran quarterback that I’m intrigued by is Justin Fields. He’s going to the Jets, and he’s got all the talent in the world. He held onto the ball too long in Chicago and got beat up, and it’s hard when you’re getting hit for 60 or 70 sacks in a year. I look at Justin Fields and I thought he made some progress last year in Pittsburgh, and then they went back to Russell Wilson, and that was kind of the end of it except for certain packages.
He’s still a young man with a lot of talent. Get him surrounded by the right people, I’m intrigued to see what may or may not happen.
Joe Milton is another one who might be traded. Joe Milton is a gifted dude. If you could get him in the right quarterback room with the right people around him…
You’ve got to find a way to get these guys meaningful reps with talented people, helping them learn how to play the game. If you trade for Joe Milton, you’d better be ready to develop this kid.
Take Jalen Milroe. If you draft him in the second or third round, throw him in the quarterback room and let him be the scout team quarterback without any significant reps, and then expect him to be a really good player in three years, forget about it.
What’s your opinion on Milroe’s skillset and his ideal landing spot in the NFL?
Most people around the league think he’s a project, and I don’t disagree. They also think he’s got an exciting skillset, and again, I don’t disagree. I don’t think he’s going to go until the second day, and to me the best place for him to land would be the Los Angeles Rams. They have no second-round pick, but I love the fact they’ve got two thirds, and maybe they can go get this kid.
You get him in LA playing behind Matthew Stafford, learning every day, similar to a Green Bay situation with an aging quarterback. What a veteran quarterback will do for a rookie is they’ll use him to help them prepare every week. Stafford would go to Milroe and say, “I’m going to get all the blitz coverages for the last four weeks, but I want you to go back and pull everything off the tape, and if there’s anything different, I want to see you edit it and present it to me in two days.” Veteran quarterbacks look at young guys as another opportunity to help them prepare every week, but in doing so it helps the young quarterback learn.
If Milroe goes to the Rams and plays behind Stafford with Sean McVay, who’s one of the best couple of play callers out there, with that offensive staff, I think he’d have a real chance to develop.
Which teams need to draft a quarterback at the top of the first round?
It looks like Tennessee’s going to take Cam Ward, and that makes sense to me. What I’m interested in is the Cleveland thing, because their quarterback situation’s bad. They got Kenny Pickett from Philly in a trade, and obviously their veteran quarterback, who they signed to maybe the worst contract in NFL history. That hampers what they can do financially as a team and at the quarterback position.
They’re sitting there with Kenny Pickett and they’ve been really quiet, and everybody I hear out there in the media is giving them Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter. They weren’t active in the veteran starting quarterback market, so if you’re Cleveland, what are you doing?
I’ve known Kevin Stefanski for years, and I know Andrew Berry – they’re two of the smartest people in any industry I’ve ever met. So something’s going on there. They have to have a quarterback, you’ve got a GM and a head coach that are potentially on the hot seat, so to me it’s one of two things. Either they’re going to stick and pick Shadeur Sanders and they’re just being awfully quiet about it, or there’s something going on with a Derek Carr or a Kirk Cousins where they feel good about their ability to make a trade for one of these guys.
Both those guys have no-trade clauses in their contract so it gets a little bit complicated, and if Atlanta or New Orleans is going to trade one of those guys, they probably want it post-June 1, so it’ll be after the draft. But Cleveland’s got to do something. There has to be a quarterback in this draft that they’re in love with.
Which other teams could take a quarterback?
I think Pittsburgh at 21 obviously has got to do something, with or without Aaron Rodgers.
A team to keep an eye on would be New Orleans at No. 9. They’ve got a new head coach, and and that’s a good time to draft a rookie quarterback. They could move Derek Carr. They have Spencer Rattler, who I actually think is a better quarterback than most people do, but that’s who else is basically on the roster.
I think the Rams at some point could be intriguing because they’ve got to be looking at the future after Matthew Stafford.
Do you see any truth in the rumour that the Saints want to move up to No. 1 for Cam Ward?
I would think he’s a lock to Tennessee, unless two things New Orleans was willing to give up a haul like we haven’t seen in years and Tennessee was willing to go that far down [to No. 9]. I’m not sure the second part of that would be possible. Tennessee doing a deal with the Giants, I could see, but I’m not sure I see them going all the way to nine.
Your former team, the Raiders, pick at No. 6. Who would be their ideal selection at that spot?
We drafted Josh Jacobs there, which was kind of the perfect fit for Jon Gruden and what he wanted to do. I think Ashton Jeanty from Boise State would be an ideal fit for what Pete Carroll wants to do. [In Seattle] Pete always ran the football downhill, physical, used play action with Russell Wilson. That was their identity, so I love the Ashton Jeanty fit there.
They come back No. 34 in the second round and they’ve got a wideout need. Emeka Egbuka or Ohio State or Luther Burden – one of those two guys might be there at 34. They also got beat up a little bit in free agency in the defensive backfield so they could use a corner. Azareye’h Thomas from Florida State is a guy that I’m probably higher on than most people, and Trey Amos from Ole Miss are two logical guys who will be sitting there at 34.
They’re in a tough division, but do you expect the Raiders to be an improved team next season?
I think you have to be a fan of the moves they’ve made so far. What I really liked was how they solidified and improved the defensive line, which might be one of the better ones in the league. You extend Maxx Crosby, we drafted a kid named Malcolm Koonce who had eight sacks two years ago and what was one of the rising young defensive ends in the NFL. He got hurt last year, didn’t play, but they were able to sign him to a one-year, $12m ‘prove it’ deal. This kid’s exciting. If you pair him with Maxx and try and get something out of Tyree Wilson, that three-man rotation along with Christian Wilkins inside is outstanding. I think their defensive line and ability to rush the quarterback in a division that has some tremendous quarterbacks is a really good place to start.
They signed an offensive guard, Alex Kappa, which allows them to move Jackson Powers-Johnson from guard to center, which is his more natural position that solidifies their offensive line. O-line and D-line is a good place to start, so I think they’re already an improved team from last year.
Do they have a lot of positions to fill in? They sure do. They’re not good at wide receiver or defensive back. But with what they’re doing with Pete Carroll and John Spytek, I’ve been impressed so far with the direction they’re heading in.
Which prospects could you see moving up draft boards over the next few weeks and sneaking into the top 10?
I would look at the Texas corner-slash-nickel, Jahdae Baron. Most people have him as the third or fourth corner in the draft, but I think some teams around the lake really like this kid. I like the kid. He’s aggressive, quick, tough, he’s got position versatility where he can kick inside and play nickel and compete at a high level.
The other kid I really like is Jihaad Campbell from Alabama. He can rush the quarterback, not only from a gap inside, but if you try to develop him a little bit as an edge, he can develop.
There’s some positional versatility with both those guys I just mentioned, which is one of the reasons I think they’re so appealing to NFL teams. I think they’re the two that might end up in the top 10 where people go, “huh, I wasn’t expecting that.”
You’ve said Jalon Walker is your top edge rusher in the draft over Abdul Carter. What is your ideal landing spot for Walker?
The highest he could go would probably be Jacksonville. What I love about him going to Jacksonville is that they’ve already got two solid edge guides with Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen, but if you take Jalon Walker and plug him in sub packages, you can kick Walker inside and now you’ve got those three guys rushing the quarterback, and that creates havoc for other teams. So I love him in Jacksonville.
How about Shemar Stewart?
It really comes down to height, weight, speed, upside versus lack of production in college. I was at the Senior Bowl, his body’s beautiful, he’s got all that stuff, but four-and-a-half sacks in a career – not good. He’s a little bit of a project because I don’t think he’s an instinctual pass rusher. He’s going to have to be taught how to rush a quarterback. Over time, he has a chance to be really, really good.
If Pittsburgh didn’t take a quarterback at 21 for whatever reason, I think he would make sense there. I’ve heard some top-10 grades on him and Carolina at No. 8 is the earliest I could see.
The teams who love their defensive line coach, who think they’ve got a guy that can bring out the best in players, they’re the kind of teams who would lean towards taking a chance with this guy.
Where would you see as a good landing spot for tight end Tyler Warren?
Tyler Warren looks almost like he’s going to Indy at No. 14. They need a weapon. It doesn’t matter which guy is a quarterback, but especially for Anthony Richardson in the long-term, he’s a weapon at all three levels. My only question on him is that at Penn State, he was in the wildcat, he was throwing the ball, he was running and I’m not sure at the NFL level that he’s going to be able to do all those things. He’s going to be a little bit more of a conventional tight end.
But I think he and Colston Loveland from Michigan are the two difference-makers, and tight end is one of the best positions in this draft. I think Indy’s going to look at it and say, “can we help our quarterback more with this kid from Penn State, or with one of the wideouts on the board?” And I think the answer is going to be Tyler Warren. Outs. Here’s your kind of 1, 2 3 with receivers in this draught.
What do you think of the wide receivers in this draft?
I think Tetairoa McMillan, Matthew Golden, Emeka Egbuka and Luther Burden are the top four. Golden has been ascending throughout the whole process. His tape’s good and people were really surprised at what he ran at the combine, which forces you to go back and watch tape. He’s quick, fast and gets in and out of his breaks. He’s a really good route runner.
Egbuka from Ohio State is not as flashy as Burden and I really like Burden’s upside, but I love Ohio State wideouts. The wide receiver coach, Brian Hartline, is outstanding and they come into the league ready to produce.
The first real landing spot for one of these wideouts could be Dallas at No. 12 assuming that Jeanty is gone. I could see McMillan or Golden going to Dallas at 12.
What would be the best place for Travis Hunter to develop, and on which side of the ball should he play?
New England would be an outstanding place for him. Drake Maye’s the quarterback and they’ve upgraded on both sides of the ball.
This kid is so good, you could shade him either way depending on what team drafts him, and I’ve never been able to say that about any prospect. I watched tape where the guy played over 150 snaps. I’ve never seen anything like it.
If New England took him they might shade him a little more towards wideout, and all of a sudden because of what you’ve done with Stefon Diggs, your wideout room looks a hell of a lot better. And you can still parcel him in where you want on defense.
I think he can fit in anywhere, to be really honest with you. He could fit in Cleveland at either position, the Giants would love to have him. You can pretty much pick a team and I could tell you that he’s going to be fantastic.
What are your plans for the future? Would you consider working in a front office again?
What I’ve learnt is at age 66, is that my dad was a coach, it’s in my blood, I’m the happiest when I’m around the game. Doing the media stuff is fun, it allows me to watch tape. I do games on the radio for Westwood One so that gets me to a stadium, I get on the grass, I get to talk to players and coaches and to me, that’s my lifeblood.
If the perfect opportunity came along in a front office, who knows? I’ve been offered several opportunities to go in with several different teams, but it’s got to be the perfect situation with the right team. At age 66 I’m working during the season, pretty much, and I love it, but I get an opportunity to live a life, play a little golf, work out and enjoy a nice spring day. So I feel good where I am because football’s in my life and I won’t ever rule anything out 100 per cent, but I’m very happy right now.
