Jakobi Meyers did little to mask his emotions when the Patriots handed JuJu Smith-Schuster a three-year, $33 million contract last March.
“Cold world lol,” Meyers posted on X.
Despite establishing himself as New England’s most consistent wideout over the last few seasons, the Patriots opted to let Meyers walk in free agency — choosing to sign Smith-Schuster instead to step in as Mac Jones’ slot receiver.
But, it didn’t take very long for Meyers to get the last laugh against his former club.
Meyers ultimately signed a three-year contract with the Raiders, with the 27-year-old wideout reeling in 71 catches for 807 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns in 2023.
Meanwhile, Smith-Schuster finished with just 29 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown in Foxborough — with a disastrous showing from New England’s offense leading to a 4-13 record in 2023, a spot on the bench for Mac Jones, and Bill Belichick’s eventual exit from the Patriots.
Appearing on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz” show on Monday, Meyers was asked if he felt vindicated by his decision to leave New England and sign with the Raiders.
“I do as far as those lines,” Meyers said. “I feel like now you can see, like they just freed me a little bit and let me kind of go out there and do other things or make plays and try to really gear toward me. It would have paid off.”
The contract that Meyers signed with the Raiders was very close to the three-year deal New England ultimately handed Smith-Schuster. But Meyers admitted on Monday that the Patriots were $1 million short of the offer that he eventually signed with Las Vegas.
When the Patriots opted to not up their offer, Meyers decided to head west.
“They just wouldn’t budge. At the end of the day, (Bill Belichick) didn’t want to move,” Meyers said. “And I respected it. Like it is his job to do what’s best for his team or what he thinks is best for the team. It just didn’t align on what I felt like I was worth. … They wouldn’t move.
“I wouldn’t have minded staying. It would’ve been a different conversation. I probably would’ve thought about it a little differently. I did enjoy Boston… It was definitely a sting when I left, but I understand the business side.”
Despite the initial disappointment that came with New England not matching Las Vegas’ offer, Meyers feels as though he’s found an ideal spot with the Raiders moving forward.
“There I had to prove who I was every day, every single day I had to be better. Here, I want to be better every single day, it’s different,” Meyers said. “Not to call people out or throw people under the bus, but I was more of a focus here than I was there. Where there, I was doing more of what I had to do to survive and feed my family.”
