The Las Vegas Raiders announced they signed former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Jalen Guyton in free agency.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but will most likely be for one year with limited guaranteed money.
This is the second veteran free-agent receiver the Raiders have signed. They recently agreed to terms with former Dallas Cowboys wideout Michael Gallup, who was released earlier this offseason.
Guyton went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft and signed onto the Cowboys’ practice squad before joining the Chargers. Guyton would go on to play five seasons with Los Angeles, though played sparingly behind Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer.
Las Vegas general manager Tom Telesco is familiar with Guyton during their time together in L.A., and he should be given an opportunity to compete for a roster spot before the 2024 NFL season. Wide receiver wasn’t a particularly glaring need for the silver and black as Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers are already entrenched as the top two receivers, while newcomer Brock Bowers will also demand targets in the passing game.
Still, Guyton’s a solid flyer who can stretch defenses vertically and could be a depth option for a Las Vegas team that always needs more receiving threats. In 2023, Guyton appeared in 10 games for Los Angeles and had 10 receptions for 89 yards and one touchdown.
Overall, Guyton has appeared in 46 career games with 14 starts and has amassed 71 receptions for 1,112 yards and seven touchdowns, along with 34 yards rushing on nine attempts.
An ACL tear in 2022 derailed what might’ve been a breakthrough year for Guyton who appeared regularly for the Chargers in 2020 and 2021.
Overall, this isn’t a move that will move the needle for the Raiders, but it does signal that the team is continually looking for some extra juice in their offense. Gardner Minshew is slated to open the 2024 season as the team’s starting quarterback but will still need to win the job officially in training camp over Aidan O’Connell.
New head coach Antonio Pierce will need to find ways to put points up on the board, and it’ll be interesting to see how he plans to go about that.
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