Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Trade Request: Should Patriots Pursue Jakobi Meyers? | Linebacker Anxiety

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Patriots could make waves with a potential Jakobi Meyers trade. Is the Raider the missing piece in New England's offensive puzzle?Nick Cattles breaks down the pros and cons of acquiring Meyers, highlighting his impressive stats and versatility. The discussion shifts to growing concerns about the Patriots' linebacker depth, with key players sidelined and questions about the remaining roster. Cattles also passionately argues for cornerback Christian Gonzalez's overlooked talent, citing his stellar rookie season performance despite team struggles.Tune in for an in-depth analysis of the Patriots' roster moves, positional strengths, and potential trade targets as Mike Vrabel's rebuilding process unfolds.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsListener SurveyWe’ve put together a survey to learn more about our listeners and make your favorite podcasts even better. Go tohttps://lockedonpodcasts.com/survey/ to get started. Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of ten $100 Amazon gift cards.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!RugietHead to Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off today.UpsideDon’t let this offer drive on by, download the free Upside app now using my limited time promo code TOUCHDOWN for a limited time 25 cent per gallon bonus! Offers vary by user and location, Go to upside.com for terms and conditions.Click Here to download the app: https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FYahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Draft now at https://yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnfl.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Jacoby Myers wants out of Vegas. And while the Pats should be interested, they need to show a certain level of restraint. That's what we start in this episode of Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcasts Network, your team every day. What's up Patriots fans? I'm your host, Nick Cattels, born and raised in New England. host of the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports talk show host veteran. On today's episode, anxiety over one defensive

position is not getting any better at the last two practices. Also, I need your help. I need your help after feeling like I'm taking crazy pills over Christian Gonzalez's reputation. But first, the Pats could get present help from their past. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen. And for being an everydayer, the lockdown page. Patriots podcast is a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Football season is around the corner. Visit the Fandul app today and start planning your futures bets now.

Ian Rappaport, Tom Pellasero of the NFL network, both reporting that Jacoby Myers wants out of Vegas. He has requested a trade from the Raiders. He's done. He has been working or trying to work on a contract extension with the team. they have been unable to come to an agreement. So Myers has gone to the team and asked them to trade him. He does not want to be a Raider.

Now, of course, as part of this report, we're also finding out, Vegas says, yeah, thanks, but no thanks. We're not going to trade you, Jacoby. Now, whether or not this is related, the Raiders on Monday went out and signed Amari Cooper to a one-year deal, which was a very interesting late in the preseason move by Vegas. The Patriots should absolutely be interested. Of course they should be interested in Jacoby Myers, but they need to be reasonable. I wouldn't go crazy for Myers. It's not like a Micah Parsons type deal.

When you walk up and you say, I am willing to give up almost anything for that kind of talent. Myers is a good football player, a really good football player. But he's also not a number one receiver. I think he's more a two. some might even argue he's a 2B. He's really good, but he is not a top 10, top 15 guy at that position. But what he is for the Patriots, if they did make a deal for a guy like Jacoby Myers, he's an immediate upgrade.

I think a lot of people overlook what Myers did last year for the Raiders, because the Raiders weren't very good. They were shuffling quarterbacks in and out. But Myers, he finished with 87 catches over 1,000 yards in four touch. And he did that with not one, not two, but three different quarterbacks. That is incredibly difficult to do to have those types of numbers with three different guys throwing you the football, 87 catches, 1,027 yards, and four touchdowns. And you know how many drops Myers had last year?

That would be zero. Zero point zero. Myers did not have a single drop last season. 87 catches, not a single drop, three different quarterbacks, three different ways they throw the football to you. And somehow, some way, you're not only incredibly productive, but you are unbelievably efficient and you take care of the football. Myers, of course, when he was with the Patriots, was known mostly as a slot guy, but he can

really play everywhere. He can play inside. He can play outside. And we know that Josh McDaniels absolutely loves using his wide receivers in different ways. He likes moving his receivers around at the line of scrimmage. So if you have somebody out there like Jacoby Myers and Stefan Diggs, both of those guys are capable of playing inside and outside. So you can play games against the defense, whoever you're playing that week. It's one of the reasons why Pop Douglas has run some routes from the outside.

He's not your prototypical boundary receiver, not with his size, but he's being put out there on the outside because McDaniels loves to have that versatility to his offense. And Myers is very versatile, just like Diggs, just like the Patriots, I'm sure hope, is going to be the case with Kyle Williams eventually. And when you think about Myers, he really would be the perfect target for this operation where the program is at right now. We talked about so much when Mike Vrable took over culture. He said that word a billion times. And he continues to say that word, culture, culture, culture. Jacoby Myers would be a great culture fit. He is a selfless football player with an incredible background story that we all know by now

because of how he came up with the Pats. He is somebody that I think has the right level of humility. he would be a great fit in the locker room. He would be, I believe, a seamless fit into this locker room with the other vets that you have brought in. And not just off the field would he be a great fit for the culture, but you think about on the field. You know, Myers, one of the best things about him in this idea of do you try to trade for him is because it should be an extremely quick transition for Myers. If the Patriots did trade for Myers, let's say Vegas hypothetically acquiesces.

And they say, you know what? We brought in Amari Cooper because we just got to reset things here. We've got to do things differently. You know, Tom Brady being a part of that program now, we got to change the way we do business. And if Jacobi Myers is unhappy, we're just going to move on from them. We don't want to, but we feel like we need to. Let's say the Raiders change their mind and say, we're going to trade Myers. It's a quick transition from Vegas to New England for Jacoby Myers because he's worked with Josh McDaniels before multiple times.

He knows the Josh McDaniels offense like the back of his hand. You would not be acquiring somebody who would need weeks of a ramp up to figure out what this offense is trying to do. Myers could literally parachute in and be that guy. He can parachute in and be one of your best receivers on the team. he's an immediate upgrade as I said and he would work perfectly with McDaniels and he knows the market he knows what people expect in New England in Boston he has felt that pressure before he understands how the media is going to react to certain things he can help guide the younger receivers along with Stefan Diggs Myers can can teach the younger guys

this is how we do it and this is how you have to do it in a market like this But you have to be reasonable. You don't bend over backwards to acquire Jacoby Myers. As much as I enjoy him as a football player, as much as I do think he would help this program out and would be that upgrade in that wide receiver room, you have to be reasonable. I'm not looking to give up more than like a third round pick for Myers. He's going to be 29 years old in November. And we know when receivers hit 30, they usually start that decline.

So he's going to be 29 in November. And as part of a trade, he's going to want a new contract, he's got one year left at about $10.5 million. So can you give him the type of contract that he would be happy with? I don't know if he's looking for a three or four year deal at big money. Thanks, but no, thanks. I don't think he would be asking for that. Maybe two years, 30 million gets it done.

I don't know. You can play around with the guarantees. We know the funny money in the NFL. But he turns 29 in November. He's going to want a new contract. And the other part of this that you have to think about is the young receivers. Do you want to continue to develop Pop Douglas into somebody who might be as productive as A. Myers in this offense?

Do you want to put all of your eggs in the Kyle Williams basket and develop him? Kishon Booty. Do you believe he can be a two receiver? Or is he just a guy that is good enough to be here and play for you? But ultimately, long term, you know he's not. the answer. How about Efton Chisholm? How much do they love Efton Chisholm in the building? Is he a good story? Or is he a really good football player that you think can give you some good production over the

next two, three, four, five years? Because you do want time to develop some of those younger receivers. And Myers could be that bridge. So yes, I would be interested in Jacoby Myers. I would place the phone call to Vegas. I would ask them what they want. If they want anything more than a third round pick. I'm out. I am out because I don't think you make that type of move for a Jacobi Myers. So third round pick, we'll have a conversation. Anything more than that? I'm walking away. My concerns grow deeper about one particular roster spot. Find out which one and why next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots,

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We have an important request before we get moving on, a position that I've got more anxiety by the day. Lockdown wants to hear from you. We've put together a survey to learn more about our listeners and make your favorite podcasts even better. This is your chance to tell us what you like, what you don't, and answer questions about our advertising. Go to Lockdown Podcasts.com.

slash survey to get started. Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of $10, $100 Amazon gift cards. Again, that's lockdownpodcast.com slash survey. You can also find the link in the show notes. And of course, thanks to all of you for helping us out. The Patriots, they lack depth in several spots. We know that.

This is going to be, you know, a two or three year situation from Mike Vrable. to fully build this team up the way that he wants to. Not everything is going to be accomplished in one off season, not with the roster that he was given from the Gerard Mayo Days, especially with that 2024 draft and how it continues to look terrible, aside from Drake May. So they lack depth in several spots, but it is getting light,

and I mean really light in the linebacker room. First two practices this week open to the media, Jelani Tavai, not practicing. Not a surprise. He has not practiced much at all during this camp. That's a part of this problem. So Tavai, not practicing. Jack Gibbons, also not practicing.

And you started this camp wondering if you had enough at linebacker. Now, two of your top four guys aren't practicing, and you're less than two weeks away from kicking off week one against the Raiders. Robert Spillane, I don't have much doubt. He is a legitimate NFL linebacker. I have sung his praises before. He is analytically a darling for some. But he's also going to be 30 years old in December.

He also plays a very, very physically demanding position and plays it in a very physical, violent manner. So Spillane, turning 30 in December, has dealt with a lot. a lot to his body already, and he's going to be your quarterback of the defense out there. He's going to play a ton of snaps. He's going to be running around the football field like a chicken with his head cut off, making plays. That's what he does.

But again, he's 30. And then you've got Christian Ellis, and we might sit there and say, oh, well, Christian Ellis has some potential to be an everyday, every down, linebacker. But we also have to acknowledge that Ellis played only 49. percent of the snaps last season. This is a guy that's still learning. 513 snaps last year. So he's still trying to figure things out.

And I'm not sure we have a full understanding and a clear picture as to who Ellis will be as a linebacker, as a guy that you're actually depending on. Nice story last year given a terrible season by the team. But Christian Ellis now is going to be asked to do a lot with DeVy and Gibbons banged up. Now Ellis is your number two guy. He's right there with Spalane. And then even if you get Jalani Tavai back, is he a fit with this defense?

He's reportedly lost some weight. He's trying to become a better fit. But is he a good fit? We don't know. Greg Bedard talking to me earlier today. And he said that, you know, watching the New York Giants film, Gibbons looked slow. And maybe that was an injury. maybe that's why he hasn't practiced the first couple of practices of this week.

Maybe we'll get even more information on Gibbons as time goes on, but he looks slow against the Giants, according to Bedard, and now he misses a couple of practices. So what you have is a little bit messy at linebacker. Spillane I'm fine with, but getting older, played a lot of physical football in his life. Ellis, relatively unknown, if you're going to ask him to be a full-time guy, to Vi unknown fit and Gibbons banged up

and looking slow in the final preseason game. You were hoping Monty Rice was going to be somebody that could push the other linebackers on this roster, but he flamed out. He was a disaster against the screen pass in that Giants game. He gave up a big time play. I believe it was, was it Washington or Minnesota. I think it was Washington.

He gave up a touchdown, 30 plus yards to a tight end, just completely blew the coverage. So he's been cut. He gone. So Monty Rice is not going to be your answer. Marta Mapu, he's transitioning from safety to full-time linebacker. Now, the transition is going pretty well. He played well against the Giants.

And maybe he gets this opportunity to play linebacker for you because the rest of the position, you're dealing with stuff. But if you've got to put Mapu out there, you've got to hope that he understands just like that what to do. He's in the right spot at the right time, communicating. with his teammates, making plays in the second level, covering tight ends, covering receivers, covering running backs out of the backfield, or running backs lined up at the line of scrimmage. So Mapu, you know, transitioning to a different position, just trying to make the team.

And then you've got Cam Riley, who was an undrafted free agent. And Riley only played, only started 12 games in his college football career. He played just under 60 games overall. but you're taught about somebody who started for one season as a UDFA. So if he's going to stick on this roster, I mean, that's throwing him into the deep end of the pool immediately. If you're going to ask him to give you a contribution at any kind of level. And so you're looking at Mapu, you're looking at Riley,

you're looking at Ellis and Tavai and Gibbons. Are they anything more than just names? Can they play? Can they consistently cover? You know, Rabel was talking about the linebacker position in late July, and I kept this note. It was about a month ago

because we've been talking about linebackers for a long time here and how the Patriots need to change their approach with linebackers. Bill Belichick was a big fan of the big burly linebackers going downhill. One of that got to be 235, 242, 45. Vrable in late July said this about linebacker. Quote, he's looking for ones that can tackle and find the football. Can they blitz? Can they cover?

There's a lot of matchups with running backs that people are trying to create the communication. Body types are all different shapes and sizes. Nowadays, I don't think there's a specific size, Vrable said. It's the ability to do their job. Sound familiar? Can they take on blocks? Can they slip blocks? What are their instincts like?

their ability to tackle not only in the box, but in the open field. They're going to make you play sideline to sideline. I can't tell you how many times I've screamed sideline to sideline over the past few years. Watching these linebackers looked like they were just stuck, stuck in mud, in quicksand. And Vrable said to finish his quote, there's a level of versatility that I think is crucial nowadays. Do they really have the versatile pieces? I mean, Tavai is versatile because he can help you on the defensive line. I don't know how much you can help you there now after losing weight.

But theoretically, he could help you playing the defensive line. Is Gibbon's versatile enough? Mapu should be versatile enough, given he's coming from the safety position. But has he learned his new position well enough that you can classify him as versatile? Again, he looked pretty good in the Giants game, given it was against twos and three. but he looked pretty good. And Cam Riley, he's an unknown. And you're working with raw material there with Riley.

And it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough to find somebody who you can say, oh, yeah, that's unequivocally an upgrade over what you have this late in August. Maybe you can pull a trade off. Maybe you can claim somebody. But it's very difficult to make a move this late, you know, couple weeks before the season, plop a guy in and feel like he can do the job.

We have no doubt. We're ready to roll. Robert Spillane is one of the most important guys on this team because he's got to stay healthy. If Spillane gets banged up in any kind of way and has to miss games, then the second level could quickly become a soft middle of this defense. You need Spelane out there.

You don't want to move everybody up a peg. Not right now, not with that room. So, yeah, the anxiety is picking up a little bit at linebacker because of the injury situation and the other questions at what we asked during this segment. And hopefully things unfold fine and no big deal. Spillane's great, stays healthy. They find a number two guy out of all those other names. Maybe they find a two and a three.

Maybe they're better than we think. But I do think it's reasonable to ask some questions. about that position. The disrespect. I want to talk about not reasonable, unreasonable. The disrespect of Christian Gonzalez grows louder. And I'm wondering if I'm the delusional one. Maybe I am.

That's coming up as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. The NFL season is right around the corner and you can feel that buzz fantasy football season is here everyone's researching drafting and building their championship squads if you haven't joined a league yet now's the time it's all happening on yahoo fantasy whether it's your first time playing or you've been around the block forever play fantasy football on yahoo fantasy with season kickoff coming up on september 4th now is the time to start playing yahoo fantasy

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The NFL season kicks off September 4th. So don't wait. Start your league now and draft at yahoofantasy.com slash lockdown NFL. That's yahoofentasy.com. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I really do. And maybe this is just my bias. Maybe I'm being a homer with this one. But Christian Gonzalez is consistently overlooked on the national level. And it's it's really driving me crazy. I first had a beef with my own brethren of lockdown when he finished somewhere in the 60s behind like five or six.

corners, and two of the guys were just frankly outrageous that they were ranked ahead of Gonzalez. Then ESPN comes out, 10 insiders and analysts, and they tell me that Gonzalez is the 63rd best player in 2025. He's going to be the 63rd best player this upcoming season, not what he's done so far, but projecting what he's going to do this year, he will be the 63rd player in the league. And then, and then I run into an athletic story. which made me wonder if I was living in an alternate universe.

Mike Jones, Mike Jones, from The Athletic, wrote about the top 25 players, 25 and under. The top 25 players, 25 and under. Now, how did they come up with this list? Jones wrote, we reached out to a collection of front office members, scouts and coaches, nearly two dozen in all for insight. All were granted anonymity so they could speak freely about the players. The participants were given a list of 35 potential players,

many of whom had received all rookie or Pro Bowl honors for inclusion. The experts were asked for feedback on where each might rank. The participants were encouraged to nominate any players that they believed had been left out. They also were free to suggest eliminating players. They deemed unworthy of inclusion, even if they had made the cut, last year.

Gonzalez was not a part of this top 25 list of 25 and under players. Gonzalez was not a part of the list. If that's not ridiculous enough, because I find that to be ridiculous. If that's not ridiculous enough, Gonzalez did not even get an honorable mention on this list. Marvin Mims was on this list. I mean, with all due respect, Marvin Mims, I mean, he's not even, let me look up his stats.

I mean, what are we talking about here? Marvin Mims, who caught 39 passes last year for the Broncos, he's not even close to being the number one. Cortland Sutton's the number one on that football team. How is Marvin Mims with 61 career catches listed as an honorable mention, but Christian Gonzalez, who was a second team all pro last year, is not listed. I mean, this is hilarious, it's hideous, it's confusing, confounding, it's crazy. It makes me feel like I'm crazy.

Christian Gonzalez, second team all pro after playing all of what, four games in 20203? Last year, for all intents and purposes, was his rookie season. He played four games in his actual rookie season, and he was a second team all pro. But yet he's not on this list. Gonzalez is a legitimate man cover corner. I know people fall in love with cornerbacks and guys that could be on an island. Gonzalez is actually left on an island a decent amount. especially compared to some other corners that are ranked higher than him.

He is a legitimate man-cover corner. Quarterbacks completed less than 51% of their passes when targeting Gonzalez last year. Do you think that's good? Do you think that's okay? Let me remind you that Gonzalez played on a team that stunk. I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but it's true. The team stunk last year.

And the defense was deplorable. They had no pass rush. The coaching staff was not good. And here you are. Here you are as Christian Gonzalez, only four games under your belt as an NFL corner. You walk into that season with a bad team, a bad defense, not much help whatsoever in the pass rush,

playing man coverage against them with the best. best receivers in football and you finish as a second team all pro and you can't even get mentioned in articles like this like what are we doing so how is he overlooked how is gonzalez overlooked or else i'm just nuts maybe i totally overrate him but i don't think i do i don't think he's a second team all pro if he's not really good at what he does so why is he overlooked is it because he's quiet. Remember that was the knock on him when he was coming out college. It's like, oh, well, you know, he's not a big talker. So you don't, like, really? That's, that's what you're going to give me. He doesn't talk enough for you. That's going to be a problem. So maybe it's

because he's too quiet. Maybe it's because he's on a terrible team last year. But I mean, Soss Garner was on the Jets and Soss Garner is always ranked ahead of Christian Gonzalez. So I know he was on a four-win team, but there are other players on terrible teams making these lists. I know the defense was horrendous, but you certainly can't put that on Gonzalez. He did all he could try to do in an effort to make them decent enough defensively. So I just don't get it. And other reputations like a sauce Gardner, somehow he remains ahead of Gonzalez when, look, last year Gardner wasn't good. He wasn't good.

I think he's a very good corner. I think he's a very talented guy. But the only reason why you would put Sauce Gardner on this list and ahead of a Gonzalez is because you believe he's going to revert back to 2023 and be even better than that. Like 24 didn't exist. 24 existed and Gonzalez was really good in 2024. And I've got big expectations for Gonzalez this year if he stays healthy. I mean, technically it's his third year.

It's really still a second, but I do think you'll see like the year three leap. I think he has all the tools to be one of the best corners in football. I think he's already getting to that after what he did last season. And I think if he puts together an even better season in 2025, he will be, or at least he should be regarded as a top five corner. Top three in my book, if he can do what I think he can do. and I think the Patriots pass rush will be better. I think philosophically, they're going to be much more aggressive,

which will help Christian Gonzalez. I mean, think about how he had to cover those receivers all day, every day, because the Pats couldn't get to a quarterback. And the Patriots will play prime time games this year. They only had one last year, which I'm sure doesn't help his case. But I feel like I'm going crazy when I see these lists. come out. And Gonzalez, I mean, you can't even get an honorable mention on this thing. Crazy.

That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. And don't forget to help us out. You hit that like button and you subscribe. That will help us out big time. It doesn't cost you any money to do so. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen.

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