Michael Mayer had to wait out the entire first round of the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday night, but when the second round opened on Friday, the wait was much more manageable.

The Las Vegas Raiders traded up to go get a guy who was high atop their draft board and picked Mayer with the 35th overall pick in the draft. Vegas sent the Indianapolis Colts the No. 38 overall pick and a 2023 fifth-round pick to get the deal done.

“When we got to the end of the first round, there were some discussions there about possibly moving back into the first round. He was one of the guys we had discussions about in that mode,” said Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler on Friday.

“Talked about it a lot (Thursday) night, talked about it a lot (Friday), and the fact he was still there, it was a very exciting moment for us. He’s one of the top 15 players on our board just in totality.”

Some thought Mayer would be a first-rounder.

He set the Notre Dame record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end in 2021 (840). Then he broke his own single-season school record for receiving touchdowns (9) in 2022 and earned first-team All-American honors.

“Really unique thing about him, I’d say, is his short-area quickness. He’s a bigger guy, but he still has when you watch the tape an ability to win in a short area. He can win on third down. Uses his size down in the red zone. Obviously has some size to continue to develop as a run-blocker,” said Ziegler. “Another kid (with) excellent traits, very smart. Probably, in terms of our scale of traits, one of the highest guys on our board in that regard, too.

“Really excited to be able to get a young tight end with his skillset where we got him. We felt like that was very good value.”

The Raiders traded Darren Waller this offseason, opening up a spot for a new tight end to take hold of a sizeable role. Ziegler was asked if fans should expect Mayer to make an immediate impact in Year 1 with the team, and though he didn’t want to commit to anything, it’s clear the Raiders plan to involve him in the pass game.

“All of (the rookies) are going to have to come in and earn their role,” Ziegler said. “But his skillset, I mean, he has a skillset to come in and make an impact for us in Year 1. How far that goes? I’m not gonna put any expectations on him to say he’s gonna be this or that, but definitely feel like he can come in and make an impact for us in the passing game. We signed Austin, we signed OJ to one-year deals in the offseason. Obviously, Michael’s gonna be here for a long time from a contractual standpoint. High ceiling for him.”