Ex-Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers said Monday the team offered him a contract $1 million shy of the 3-year, $33 million deal he signed with the Raiders in free agency last March.

Meyers, who finished as the Pats’ leading receiver every season from 2020-22, didn’t specify whether the extra million took form in total value, total guarantees or average annual value. He also did not commit to re-signing when asked if the Patriots had matched Las Vegas’ offer what he would’ve done.

“I wouldn’t have minded staying. It would’ve been a different conversation,” Meyers said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Felger & Mazz. “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.”

Meyers repeatedly said the Patriots “wouldn’t budge” during negotiations. In the days leading up to his departure, sources said, the 27-year-old told teammates he wasn’t wanted in New England.

“At the end of the day, (Bill Belichick) didn’t want to move. And I respected it,” he said. “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.”

A day after Meyers signed his deal with the Raiders, the Patriots signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to a 3-year contract with a similar structure. Smith-Schuster’s guaranteed money, however, effectively locked him in for two seasons, while Las Vegas allowed itself an out after one year that would’ve rendered the deal a 1-year, $11 million pact. But impressed with Meyers last summer, the Raiders restructured his deal to ensure he would stay beyond the 2023 season, when he finished with 71 catches for 807 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns.

Meanwhile, hampered by a chronic knee injury, Smith-Schuster totaled 29 grabs for 260 yards and one touchdown in New England. Meyers said the Raiders allowed him to feel more freedom and joy than he had with the Patriots.

“Who I was at that point in my career, I probably didn’t get as much respect as I would out here,” Meyers said from Las Vegas. “I do (enjoy it more). I’m not going to lie. It’s different. …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.”

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Extra points

The Washington Post reports Commanders GM Adam Peters had a “kick the tires” conversation with Bill Belichick about the team’s head-coaching vacancy that “didn’t really go anywhere.”. Belichick never interviewed with Washington, which had the NFL’s last head-coaching vacancy before hiring ex-Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn last week. … 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed to NBC Sports that San Francisco pursued Tom Brady last offseason. Brady turned down the 49ers, who opted to sign Sam Darnold while starter Brock Purdy recovered from elbow surgery.