Geno Smith is heading back to where his career began. The Raiders have worked out a trade which will send the veteran quarterback to the Jets, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
Vegas will send Smith and a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft to New York for a sixth-round selection this year, Schefter adds. The Raiders, meanwhile, are retaining most of Smith’s base salary ($26.5MM, including $18.5MM guaranteed) for 2026, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The Jets will pay him near the league minimum as a result, with Schefter adding a restructure was agreed to prior to the trade.
Smith’s Raiders tenure was known to be ending after just one season with the team preparing to draft Fernando Mendoza first overall in April. Vegas was willing to release the 35-year-old in the event no trade suitors could be found. Instead of Smith becoming a free agent tomorrow, he will begin a second stint with the Jets.
The former second-rounder is at the Jets’ facility, Dianna Russini of The Athletic notes Smith has already conducted a physical, paving the way for this swap to be made official. One major move at the quarterback position has now been taken care of for New York, although more changes will be coming. One year remains on Justin Fields‘ contract, but he is not expected to be back with the team in 2026. Tyrod Taylor is a pending free agent.
Smith began his career as a Jets draftee, and he spent four seasons with the team. That included a two-year run (2013-14) as New York’s starter, a stint which did not go as planned to say the least. A lengthy spell without another QB1 opportunity came to an end when Smith took over starting duties for Seattle following the Russell Wilson trade.
Smith spent three years atop the Seahawks’ depth chart, earning Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2022. That season included a league-leading 69.8 completion percentage and a career-high 30 touchdown passes. Smith secured a second straight Pro Bowl nod the following year, but the arrival of new head coach Mike Macdonald in 2024 did not result in a long-term Seattle deal being worked out. Instead, the Seahawks targeted Sam Darnold last offseason and traded Smith to Vegas, allowing him to reunite with Pete Carroll.
After a disastrous season together, Carroll and Smith are now out of the fold. The latter will look to rebuild his value in a familiar setting, although he does not have experience playing under Jets head coach Aaron Glenn or offensive coordinator Frank Reich. A quick acclimation period would of course be welcomed by all involved, with Glenn no doubt under pressure to guide New York to more success in Year 2 than the team had during his debut on the sidelines.
Reich has a history with Carson Wentz, and a reunion between those two has been mentioned as something to watch for. In general, it will be interesting to see if the Jets add another veteran passer in free agency with Smith now in the fold. Meanwhile, the Raiders could be in the market for an experienced option as insurance for Mendoza’s rookie campaign.
Improved play on offense will be key in 2026 for the Jets, a team which made a number of defensive splashes yesterday. It will be interesting to see how Smith fares in his New York return and what kind of QB room he will be in by the time the season begins.
bruh. fire this regime already
They swapped a 6th for a 7th, and he redid his deal jets get him for vet minimum. Raiders are on the hook for the rest. I would relax.
Yeah so I legit dont care. It would be nice if they can go with a QB that wouldnt get the Jets the most laughed at for once. He literally got his jaw broken here, talked about how we wrote him off. NY media is already having a field day. We couldnt just have a mediocre quiet year with Brissett or Jameis while we wait till the 27 draft?
Jameis is under contract with the Giants and I don’t think they’d let him go for a sixth like the Raiders did with Geno, and spending a fifth or whatever for Winston wouldn’t be a wise use of resources. Brissett would have made sense, or even pursuing Kirk Cousins.
I understand Jameis is under contract. Moving a 5th is just fine with me, its not like the Jets are low on draft capital nor did Mougey hit on any of his later round picks. Brissett would be the best choice to pair a rookie with imo, but Jameis is the best choice for some exciting football even in a losing season, which we are inevitably speeding towards.
Brissett’s staying in AZ and I think Winston has another year with the G-Men.
see how we traded for this Geno guy? thats what im suggesting.
This isn’t about the draft picks and the contract. It’s about getting the worst option of all the available options. I’m sure if whatever team you’re a fan of had Geno as the starter you’d feel like this too
I’d take Geno on the min over Willis’ contract as a dolphins fan
As a Raiders fan, I agree with this.
@joe- Geno is certainly not the worst of the options. He had a solid starting run, then played behind one of the worst OLs of all time and now everyone is out all the way on him. I don’t love the move and I’m not defending it, but let’s relax on the hyperbole. He’s objectively better than many free agent options.
Agreed. There are no illusions that he’s the future this time. He’s the stop gap for someone drafted either this year or next year.
LOOOOOOLLLLLLJets
J-E-T-S
FULL CIRCLE
This can’t be real life! I think it’s time to root for a different team. My hate for them isn’t just from Week 5 anymore, it’s now in the off-season too. Of all the QB options this is the worst one
Back to back worst QB decision of the offseason! Im not sure why anyone thought the crew that brought in Fields was smart enough to try again
Why would the Raiders even bother?
6th for 7th means nothing but your basically paying Geno his full pay to be on a rivals team. I know Geno had a down year and you can say he sucks or whatever but if he was a FA he’d probably fetch 10 mil roughly (a little more than Gardner Minshew). Had the Jets paid that then sure good deal.
Just a dumb move by the raiders and for the jets your adding in a veteran QB for nothing, great on their behalf
If the Raiders cut him, nobody would give him 10M. Raiders were already on the hook for 26M or so (the rest was cap savings of like 8M).
Raiders still get that cap savings plus swap the 7th round pick for the 6th rounder.
Jets cut the line and secure Smith. Maybe as free agent he chooses someone else at the vet minimum.
It would be different if Smith had no guaranteed money…then he’d get more than the vet minimum.
Why wouldnt they bother. They just moved up a round in the draft. If they released him like expected, they still pay him the same amount for him to go sign somewhere else. Instead they just moved up some spots in the draft. If released, he was signing vet minimum somewhere else (not 10 mil). Raiders were on hook for next years salary if released minus whatever he signs for so those players always sign for Vet min and make previous team be on hook for the rest.
Oh yeah I see so teams wouldn’t pay him cause the raiders are…..
Not like nba where a player would bank that 28mil or whatever and then everyone bids on him again as money on top of why he’s been paid out
F it. As a Jets fan I find this fun. They were going to bring in somebody. I think Geno is probably still a low end starting caliber QB. He should have much better line play and he’s competent enough to not make it impossible to develop or evaluate guys like Mitchell. And I don’t want them to reach for a non Mendoza quarterback.
Look, the Jets aren’t winning anything this year. How they manage and develop atheir recent and upcoming picks matters more than anyone whose age starts with a 3 they’ve added this week.
If nothing else, at a bare minimum, this is at least very funny.
I think this is the least fun guy we couldve gotten. Its not like hes all smiles and funny moments like Jameis, its just pure angst and depression with Geno
Yeah, it’s funny if nothing else but it makes sense from a football perspective if the idea is to tank this season, which it probably should be.
Just kind of sucks for Aaron Glenn, right? The Jets will be terrible this year and Glenn will probably be fired. Maybe he’s a bad coach but it’s hard to really evaluate a rookie HC when he’s had Justin Fields and now an aging Geno Smith as his QBs. He might never get another HC job.
He chose Fields and Geno btw
He’s the GM?
Dont you dare try to insinuate that Aaron Glenn has zero personnel input and its just poor ol Glenn having to deal with his GMs roster. When hired, Woody said Mougey was his sidekick btw. When they signed Fields, Glenn said it was because it was tough to scheme against him when he was in Detroit thats why he wanted him.
He has heavy input on roster decisions.
Ok, cool. If true, that just means he’s bad at evaluating a QB and that the Jets are fools for allowing a defensive-minded, rookie coach that much input on choosing a quarterback.
Doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a bad coach, and now we’ll probably never know if he’s good at all. Plenty of great coaches have been bad at being de facto GMs. I think you’re overestimating his influence on the QB position, though. You’re making it sound like Aaron Glenn claps his hands and the Jets FO just goes out and gets whoever he wants.
No, im making it sound like the HC and GM of the Jets work hand in hand on roster decisions, because they do. Glenn is as equally responsible for their roster choices as Mougey is. Part of the HCs job is also hiring assistant coaches and coordinators and most of them got the boot after last year so hes exactly not good at that either. He necessarily has been a bad coach because of the way hes failed at what a HC is responsible for, unless you think hes only there to give hype speeches.
Begamin has always believed the idea that there was a reason for a new coaching staff to keep Aaron Rodgers around for another year. I do not share this view.
Congrats man. Not that its relevant to this convo but Aaron Rodgers was a better choice than Fields. You can get over that anytime you want. Are you trying to say Glenn doesnt have heavy roster input? If not, then you comment is meaningless to this conversation.
your*
You guys are having this whole back and forth in a thread from my comment dude.
And I’m fine with the Jets exploring a long shot that Fields would develop more into his upside than a surer bet that Rodgers would be the so so husk of Aaron Rodgers with no future and a bad case of main character syndrome.
Congrats again! I never said it wasnt a comment thread you started. You did, however, chimed in with something irrelevant to what was being said, in said back and forth.
There was no possible shot with Fields get over it lmao Youre stuck on this still bro? Like even with the hindsight 20/20 and everything you still think Fields was a better decision than Rodgers? With all the film on Fields and everything? You stay stuck buddy
I’m looking at the decision they had in front of them at the time. I can’t imagine saddling a rookie head coach with an old Aaron Rodgers at this stage. And you discussed Fields before I did.
The decision in front of them at the time was hmmmm one of the worst QBs in the league or a HoFer that can actually operate an offense.
I discussed that Glenn chose Fields, because Glenn did. Is that something you deny? Because again, if not, its irrelevant to the central point of the back snf forth between rct and I. Just to reiterate for you, my confused friend, my point was that Glenn has heavy roster input so if the roster is a problem, it is something hes responsible for and its not just on the GM.
It’s certainly not like it’s majority Glenn’s opinion, especially at a time when Glenn seems like a lame duck and the GM traded away two of his best players in the middle of his first season.
It certainly is decisions that him and Mougey work hand in hand in. Why would Glenn state personal experiences for why he chose Fields if he didnt have a part in choosing him? Why would Woody state Mougey is Glenns sidekick if Glenn has little roster input? Lets not be obtuse.
I dont think Glenn cared that guys from an old regime that he wasnt even using properly were traded either, he was probably for it to find better scheme fits after starting 0-7.
@Oooof. 1.2 for a QB or backup, and they traded down 11 spots. Trey lance was around 5 million. Geno is about the same as the rest available, and they would cost more salary wise.
Is March 10th the record earliest date for enabling full tank mode on the upcoming season?
Welp guess Justin Jefferson is happy 😂
Hahaha this is going to be an utter disaster 🤣
Bwahahhahahaaaaahhaaa! the Jets, lmao.
You can go home again. Also, lmao
For Jets fans complaining, did you think you were going to get anything better? That franchise is a a mess with possibly a lame duck HC, a merry go round coaching staff, and an owner that fires anyone at will. What good players want to go there? Geno is an upgrade from Fields. He’ll throw for more than 200 yards a game. Smith is better than Winston, he throws less INTs, not sure why there is chatter on that.
For the Raiders, you don’t overpay your QB1 then move him to QB2. It’s like bumping down your HC to a coordinator position on the same team. Bad locker room karma and bad business. Since they’re drafting Mendoza, Smith had to go.
Yes, we did think we would be a professional football team for once and not get the worst QB possible with all the baggage and drama that comes with Geno for the media to rag on. You see how real teams like New England and Washington get a guy like Brissett to have a calm tanking year where theyre bad, sure, but theyre not a total clown show? You’d complain if Geno was your QB too, especially after having to endure a year of Fields and Brady Cook, so I dont really want to hear it.
Now the Jets just need to bring back Christian Hackenberg to create the most entertaining QB competition in the league 🙂
Call up Bryce Petty while we’re at it
While long familiar with the phrase, I just realized (because I’m about to…twice) I’ve never used the term “sad sack”. Never said it. Only just now typed it.
But…man…..this is the most sad sack move…maybe ever.
Sad sack team. Sad sack player. And a reunion of a previous failure, just for fun.
Super Bowl!