Jets' Jordan Meredith trade spells doom for Xavier Newman

With roster cutdowns underway, NFL teams are doing their best to get ahead of the waiver/free agency system by flipping draft picks to bring in much-needed depth at the fringes of their rosters. The New York Jets are no different.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport revealed on Sunday afternoon that the Jets are acquiring Las Vegas Raiders center Jordan Meredith. According to Rapoport, New York is sending out a 2027 sixth-round pick, while Las Vegas sends back a 2029 seventh-round pick along with Meredith.

The former undrafted free agent has four years of NFL experience under his belt and has appeared in 45 games over his career, starting 20 of them. Meredith is under contract for one year on a $3.52 million deal in 2026.

In what has become a staple of Darren Mougey's time as general manager, the Jets use some later Day 3 draft capital to add much-needed depth at a position of need. It became increasingly obvious as the preseason went along that the Jets needed an upgrade to their reserve interior offensive linemen.

Jordan Meredith trade likely spells the end for Xavier Newman's New York Jets tenure

The Jets desperately needed more depth behind the likes of Dylan Parham, Josh Myers, and Joe Tippmann. If any of those players went down with injury, it would've been sixth-round draft pick Anez Cooper or career backup Xavier Newman coming to the rescue, and that may have been a recipe for disaster.

Cooper is a rookie and suffered what seemed to fairly serious shoulder injury in the Jets' preseason finale. Newman, on the other hand, has never proven to be a competent NFL-level player and only made The Jet Press' recent 53-man roster projection out of necessity.

With the addition of Meredith, Newman's time in New York is likely coming to an end. The former Western Kentucky standout has experience at both guard and center and will likely be the first man up in case of injury to any Jets starters up front.

Editor's note: SNY's Connor Hughes reported shortly after the Meredith trade that the Jets would, in fact, be parting ways with Xavier Newman.

Is Jordan Meredith a good player?

In any acquisition of this level of player, the question fans are likely asking is: how good is Meredith, really? After all, the Raiders, who had one of the worst offensive lines in football last season, were willing to part ways with him just before the start of the season.

Well, it sounds like he's at least a decent insurance policy. ESPN's Rich Cimini shared that the former Las Vegas center ranked eighth among centers in pass-block win rate, which is surely much better than whatever the Jets had waiting in the wings before the deal.

All in all, it's a solid pick-up for Mougey and the Jets, and all eyes now turn to a veteran quarterback and kicker.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow