The Quick Answer
Brock Bowers is expected to play against the Saints on Sunday, though the Raiders tight end is still officially listed as questionable with a knee issue. ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler put it at "barring a surprise" in a report filed at 7:31 a.m. ET, which is about as close to a yes as a Sunday morning gets. The questionable tag comes from the Raiders' final Week 3 injury report, released Friday, Sept. 25, after Bowers did not practice that day. The Kalshi market on Raiders-Saints has not budged on any of it.
Nothing is official until the inactive list posts at 2:55 p.m. ET, 90 minutes before the 4:25 kickoff. That list, not the questionable tag, is the answer.
What Is Still In Doubt, And How To Check
Two things settle this before kickoff. The inactive list posts at 2:55 p.m. ET and supersedes every designation on the Friday report, and pregame warmups in New Orleans get reported before that, usually from about 2:30. A questionable player who takes part in full warmups is playing; one who tests the knee and walks off is the scratch.
The market is no help here. Kalshi lists the game as "LV Raiders vs NO Saints" for 4:25 p.m. EDT, with New Orleans quoted 61 to 62 cents and Las Vegas 38 to 39, unchanged from a day earlier. Nothing in that price is reacting to Bowers news, and the listing carries no mention of him. There is no contract on whether he plays, so the game line is the only market on the board that touches this.
The Numbers
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Bowers' Week 3 Status | Questionable, knee, final report Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 |
| Bowers' Practice, Wednesday And Thursday, Sept. 23 To 24, 2026 | Limited both days |
| Bowers' Practice, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 | Did not practice |
| Knee Procedure | Meniscus trim, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026 |
| Games Missed This Season | 2, Week 1 vs. Miami and Week 2 at the Chargers |
| Michael Mayer, Week 1 | 6 catches on 7 targets, 32 yards |
| Michael Mayer, Week 2 | 3 catches on 4 targets, 23 yards |
| Kickoff | Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, 4:25 p.m. EDT |
| New Orleans To Win, Chance Priced By The Market | 62%, flat from a day earlier |
| Las Vegas To Win, Chance Priced By The Market | 39%, flat from a day earlier |
Market prices are from Kalshi as of Sunday, September 27, 2026, 10:40 AM ET.
Why Bowers Is On The Report At All
Bowers hurt his left knee in training camp, was diagnosed the week before, and had a meniscus trim performed Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, by Dr. Daniel Cooper in Dallas, according to FOX Sports. The team's initial expectation was that he would miss "a game or two," and that is exactly what happened: he sat out Week 1 against Miami and Week 2 at the Chargers before this trip to New Orleans.
NBC Sports logged him as a limited practice participant on Wednesday and again on Thursday, Sept. 24, as he kept working back from the procedure. Then came Friday, when he did not practice at all, and the team's own framing of that day is the hinge of the whole week: a planned rest day rather than a setback, per ESPN. That characterization is the reason a Friday absence from practice landed on questionable instead of out.
Nobody with the Raiders has said any of that on the record, so the rest-day framing is a paraphrase.
What It Does To The Las Vegas Offense
Second-year tight end Michael Mayer has been the de facto No. 1 tight end in both absences, catching 6 of 7 targets for 32 yards in Week 1 and 3 of 4 targets for 23 yards in the Week 2 win over the Chargers.
Mayer has caught 9 of his 13 targets across the two games for 55 combined yards, which means the work Bowers left behind has been handled without being replaced. That gap matters today, because a Bowers who plays on a snap count is a different situation than a Bowers who gets scratched, and only one of those two outcomes hands Mayer the job again.
About The Numbers
Kalshi is a prediction market, a place where people buy and sell contracts tied to a real-world outcome, and the price works as a percentage chance. A price of 62 cents means the market prices that outcome at about a 62% chance. The two sides are quoted separately and do not have to add up to exactly 100. Practice labels come from the team's daily injury report, where limited means a player took part in a reduced share of the session and did not practice means he took part in none of it. Mayer's catch and target figures cover two games, Week 1 and Week 2 of the 2026 season, not a full-season rate; his combined 9-of-13 for 55 yards is those two game lines added together.
