The Raiders are all but guaranteed to use the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The Heisman Trophy winner and national champion’s forthcoming arrival leaves veteran quarterback Geno Smith‘s future with the Raiders up in the air.
First-year Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said last week that Smith is “definitely one of those options we’re considering” as a starter. While Kubiak is not publicly closing the door on Smith, trading or releasing him look like more realistic possibilities.
The Vikings, who at least want credible competition for J.J. McCarthy, are reportedly interested in Smith. The 35-year-old could intrigue other teams seeking a stopgap starter or a decent backup, though he’s one of many flawed options for clubs to consider. If nobody is willing to trade for Smith, the Raiders will indeed release him, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post.
With the Raiders expecting to take sizable steps forward last year, they sent a third-round pick to the Seahawks for Smith in March. The swap reunited Smith and head coach Pete Carroll, who meshed in Seattle from 2020-24. The Raiders wasted little time in handing Smith a two-year, $75MM extension after acquiring him.
It quickly became clear that the Smith pickup, Carroll’s hiring and the extension were all misfires for owner Mark Davis, part-owner Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek. Over 15 starts last season, Smith threw an NFL-worst 17 interceptions (with just 19 touchdowns) and finished with the league’s second-lowest QBR. The Raiders went 2-13 in Smith’s starts and 3-14 overall, securing the No. 1 pick and leading to a one-and-done stint for Carroll.
As part of Smith’s contract, the Raiders are scheduled to pay him another $8MM in guaranteed money if he is still on their roster on Day 3 of the league year. Moving on from Smith by then would add $8MM to the Raiders’ war chest for free agency. At approximately $89.08MM, Las Vegas already has the second-most cap space in the league. Trading or releasing Smith would give them even more room to build a better roster around Mendoza.
Not really surprising given how much he makes.
Should be interesting to see who signs him if that’s the case.
Miami. They’re in cap hell and Geno would come in cheap since he’s being paid still by the Raiders. Vikings could be another option.
Smith was bad last year, but so was the entire team.
Never thought Chip would be bad but to that extent yikes. Rumors of Brennan Carroll being so inept is crazy. Doomed from the beginning
Can’t really blame Chip completely for that. Carroll didn’t let him run the offense. I mean, Chip could have ended up bad anyway, granted, but I don’t think that we got to see the version of the offense that he was planning on running.
One of the issues I read was Chip not always sending in the full play to the huddle. Geno was left wondering what the rest of it was. Couple that with their OL getting injured, an all pro DT getting released in camp, injuries to their pass catching TEs, a veteran WR deciding to retire, then trading your #2 WR who was your default #1. Many of Geno’s INT were from forcing the ball too much. Geno still has “it” as a serviceable NFL QB1. He has mobility and arm strength. The team was just a mess from coaching to the roster. Put Geno on a stable team and he’ll be ok. Put him on a bad team and we saw what happens.
I like Geno in Atlanta. With that O line, Bijan, Drake, and Pitts he could bounce back nicely.
Keep Geno and let Mendoza learn. Wired for Brady and Mahomes and Rogers and…
Geno & Chip & the Nepo Carroll Oline (plus season IR for LT Miller C/G Powers-Johnson) spelled doom for Pete’s 2025 Raider Offense. Nobody was on the same page with anything and well, that led to Kubiak & Mendoza leading the Raider Reforge, plus Spytek getting to do the GM job he was hired for…no more “win now” band-aid QBs (or forever mid ones like Carr) with years of bad drafts/bad coach hires. You can go worst to first in the NFL (Bears & Cheats did after staff changes and year 2 of top 3 picked QB’s) but you do have to have a team vision and let the staff/GM build it properly.