QB-Needy Teams Have Options Through Draft, Free Agency
It’s really not a surprise at this point in time, but reports indicate that Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza getting drafted No. 1 overall by the Raiders is all but a sure thing. Mendoza cemented himself as the likely first overall pick even before the Hoosiers’ championship run through the College Football Playoff secured his Heisman win, and as soon as Las Vegas secured the top pick in the draft, Mendoza’s move to Nevada became a near certainty. 
Nothing is ever 100-percent sure, though, and there is always a possibility that the Raiders look at next year’s wide crop of quarterback prospects and an historic trade offer for the No. 1 overall pick and choose that route. Overwhelmingly, though, pundits across the media spectrum believe that Vegas will retain their top overall pick and make things official with Mendoza. During an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer dropped a number of quotes, saying, “I would be stunned if (Mendoza) didn’t go No. 1, right? I- I think it’s highly unlikely he goes anywhere but Vegas.”
Over at ESPN, a crew of reporters polled several NFL executives on the topic at the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, and Super Bowl, and eight executives believed the Raiders would keep the pick, while no votes were tallied against that possibility. Separately, ESPN’s Rich Cimini asked Jets general manager Darren Mougey about the possibility of reaching out to Vegas to inquire about moving up, and he stated pretty plainly, “I don’t think that’s happening.” Courtney Cronin, another ESPN contributor, added to the crowd yesterday with a piece on Mendoza’s meeting with the Raiders and his excitement at the prospect of potentially being mentored by minority team owner Tom Brady.
Now, for teams with a need at quarterback not located in Sin City, the other obvious solutions are to go after one of the top free agent quarterbacks available — namely, Green Bay’s Malik Willis or Indianapolis’ Daniel Jones — or attempt to trade for San Francisco’s Mac Jones. After impressive 2025 contributions, both Joneses are expected to stay home, though, and only one team will get to claim Willis as a solution, but there is still a solvable equation for the teams that remain.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the teams that are still looking to acquire a passer after the above dust settles will be able to look towards either the litany of veteran quarterbacks with starting experience available for cheap or the numerous rookie passers who may be worth taking a flyer on or some combination of both. Rapoport points to several veteran former starters who are thought to be release candidates and who may, in the same vein as Russell Wilson, be able to play for the veteran minimum, thanks to the added security of guaranteed money from the teams who may let them go. This situation would apply to players like Kirk Cousins, Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Fields, and Geno Smith.
Teams can sign one of these quarterbacks to audition for a Jones-like comeback opportunity then pair them with a young, rookie option that may be available later on in the 2026 NFL Draft. After Mendoza, Alabama’s Ty Simpson has drawn some first-round interest, but there is a perceived drop off in the arms that follow. The next names on the list — LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Miami’s Carson Beck, Penn State’s Drew Allar, etc. — could fall anywhere in the draft. Some see 2026 much like the 2022 NFL Draft, in which Kenny Pickett was the only Day 1 quarterback, and the next passer was taken in the third round. Others believe 2026 could be more like 2018 or 2024, when two passers were widely viewed as first-round talents but several others drifted into the first round based on the number of teams looking for answers at the position.
With many already looking forward to the quarterback prospects of the 2027 NFL Draft, we may see multiple teams opt to employ the services of a veteran starter alone or combined with a promising rookie. These decisions will play out over the next few weeks as the veterans hit free agency after release and draft grades are determined for rookies, but there are several options available to teams looking for quarterback help for 2026.
Raiders ‘Looking At All Options’ At QB
The Raiders are widely expected to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first pick of the 2026 draft, putting Geno Smith‘s future in Las Vegas in doubt.
Smith, 35, joined the Raiders last offseason via a trade with the Seahawks, where he started for the last four years. He signed a two-year, $75MM extension last offseason that included $18.5MM in guaranteed salary in 2026.
But after a noticeable drop in play last season – including a league-high 17 interceptions – and the coaching change from Pete Carroll to Klint Kubiak, Smith is no longer the Raiders’ quarterback of the future. At the Combine this week, Kubiak said that the team was “looking at all options right now,” and said that the 12-year veteran was among the considerations.
Kubiak and Smith are technically reuniting in Las Vegas, as the former arrived as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator a few months before the latter was traded. While Kubiak may not have pushed for the move, it is hard to ignore the timing – and the subsequent seasons of each team involved. The two have talked “a little bit” since Kubiak came aboard in Las Vegas.
Unless the Raiders move off of Mendoza in the next few months, Smith is likely to be out of a starting job later this year. He may not want to spend his age-36 season as a backup on a rebuilding team and could seek a trade. He may not have much value after a rough season, but teams may also ascribe some of his struggles to the dearth of talent around him. Teams in need of a bridge starter – which could include his former team, the Jets – might be interested, and the Raiders would be wise to consider it. They need to spend aggressively this offseason to meet the NFL’s minimum spending requirement – 90% of the salary cap in three-year cycles – so they can afford to eat Smith’s 2026 salary. That would make him more enticing to other teams and raise his trade value.
Otherwise, the Raiders should keep Smith as an experienced mentor for Mendoza in his first season. Typically, a No. 1 pick plays right away, but Las Vegas could start Smith initially in 2026 and give Mendoza more time to get adjusted to the NFL, especially as the team figures out its offensive line situation. He could also become a valuable trade chip during the season if any team were to lose their starting quarterback.
Raiders Rumors: Brady, Spytek, Whitmer
John Spytek was hired before Pete Carroll, who has since been fired. This year’s Raiders HC search — their fourth in the past five offseasons — will be the GM’s first with true involvement. Spytek was not involved in the Carroll hire last year, ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden indicate in an expansive look at the Raiders’ present state of affairs.
The team hired Spytek two days before hiring Carroll last year. This is not uncommon for teams seeking to fill HC and GM positions in one offseason. Ryan Poles technically arrived before Matt Eberflus in 2022, but he was not a key player in that search. Spytek, though, is the point man for the Raiders in-house, as he is running things locally while Tom Brady — who has been involved from afar since being approved as a minority owner in fall 2024 — made “five or six” appearances at the team facility in 2025, Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller estimated.
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Brady did play the lead role in the Raiders firing Tom Telesco and hiring Spytek, his former college teammate who later ended up in the Buccaneers’ front office during the QB legend’s Tampa stopover. Brady later led the Raiders’ pursuit of Ben Johnson and then played the central role in a failed Matthew Stafford recruitment. The 47-year-old QB retiree-turned-FOX analyst was believed to be against a Sam Darnold free agent signing, and he was a key figure in the trade for Geno Smith, per an agent of a Raiders player (via Kahler and McFadden). That certainly appeased Carroll, but the Carroll-Smith reunion backfired quickly.
Brady will continue to carry plenty of say with the Raiders, who are believed to be pursuing an offense-oriented HC to pair with expected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. But Spytek will be the one running things from inside, as Brady will continue with his FOX role for a third season in 2026.
“My preparation is very much centered around what I have to do in broadcasting,” Brady said of his Raiders role, via The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. “I love, obviously, having a chance to be involved with the Raiders. To be a former player and have a minority ownership is like a dream come true.
“I couldn’t afford to pay to be a general partner. I did very well in my career. It’s awesome to kind of help shape and strategize and be a visionary for a team. I love being involved in football.”
The Raiders will be expected to move on from Smith, who appears destined to follow Jimmy Garoppolo and Gardner Minshew as Vegas QB acquisitions to last one season. Although Smith signed a two-year, $75MM extension, it will cost the Raiders just $18.5MM in dead money to drop him. That amount would be lessened in the post-June 1 scenario.
Mendoza is the latest QB to rocket to the top sector of the draft with a dominant college season. The Raiders secured the No. 1 overall pick, shelving Brock Bowers and, more controversially, Maxx Crosby (who has since undergone knee surgery for an injury he believed he could play through), for the season’s final two games. One of Mendoza’s Indiana coaches, co-OC/QBs coach Chandler Whitmer is a name to monitor regarding a Raiders role, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore tweets.
Whitmer, 34, was on all three Brandon Staley Chargers staffs before landing with the Falcons in 2024. He joined the Hoosiers last year, and his role in Mendoza’s Heisman-winning season and the team’s 16-0 national championship season certainly brought a stock boost.
The Raiders, though, still have a head coach to hire before turning their attention to assistants. Brady heavily influenced Chip Kelly‘s move from the college ranks back to the NFL; that would make another college-to-NFL hire draw some scrutiny. The Raiders gave their one-and-done OC a $6MM-per-year deal only to fire him in-season. Kelly is now Northwestern’s OC.
Raiders Now In Line To Land 2026 No. 1 Overall Pick
DECEMBER 29: ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports some in the Giants’ organization found the Raiders’ IR moves leading up to yesterday’s game to be suspicious. They certainly helped Vegas move into pole position for the top selection, however. Similar actions can be expected in future years when games critical to determining the draft order take place late in the season.
DECEMBER 28: In what would be a snoozer of a game any time before, say, Week 14, today’s matchup between the two teams with the worst records in the NFL held huge implications for each franchise’s future. With a loss today, the Giants could have all but locked up the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but after New York blew out Las Vegas to the tune of 34-10, the Raiders now sit in the driver’s seat heading into the regular season finale.
It seems only two teams remain eligible to secure the top pick in the league’s next draft, and it’s still the two who played each other today. According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the Giants still hold a 20% chance to land the No. 1 overall pick by losing next week, when they host the Cowboys, and seeing Vegas beat the Chiefs. Raanan’s ESPN coworker, Adam Schefter, followed up Raanan’s report to point out the remaining 80 percent of probability belongs solely to the Raiders, who can secure the top pick with a Week 18 home loss to Kansas City.
A couple factors should give New York fans some hope behind their smaller odds. Todd Archer, another contributor at ESPN, reported shortly after the Cowboys’ Christmas Day game that quarterback Dak Prescott has “pride” in starting the final game of the 2025 season, giving the Giants a tougher matchup for the final week of the season. Additionally, the Chiefs offense will be led by QB3 Chris Oladokun after both Patrick Mahomes and Gardner Minshew suffered season-ending injuries.
Working against the Giants’ odds is the fact that the Raiders appear to be self-handicapping their team for what could be an easy matchup against the ailing Chiefs to close out the year. All before the penultimate week of the regular season, the Raiders shut down the seasons of starting offensive guard Jordan Meredith, star tight end Brock Bowers, and starting safety Jeremy Chinn, not to mention star pass rusher Maxx Crosby. Additionally, after starting quarterback Geno Smith left today’s game with an injury, head coach Pete Carroll announced that Smith would miss the team’s regular season finale with a high ankle sprain, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
The move to place Crosby on injured reserve seems especially blatant as Crosby has been banging the table, advocating for himself, wanting to play out the rest of the season. Crosby had started every game this year up until this week despite suffering a midseason knee injury that both player and team have known for a while would require a meniscus trim procedure to repair. Las Vegas made the move to place Crosby on IR yesterday and plan his surgery against the will of the star pass rusher, ending his season and causing him to walk out of the team facility.
Crosby spoke against the transaction, telling the media that he doesn’t care “about the pick” and that his “job is to be the best defensive end in the world.” Crosby even received two alternative medical opinions on his situation, both of which indicated that he could continue to play, provided he could handle any accompanying pain. Seemingly to speak out against his team’s decision and prove he could still play, Crosby posted videos to his Instagram story yesterday that showed him playing basketball and playing with his daughter on a trampoline, activities that would be difficult for someone with a season-ending knee injury.
Regardless, heading into the final week of the regular season, the Raiders will enter a winnable game against an injury-riddled Chiefs squad without Smith, Bowers, Meredith, Chinn, and Crosby, as well as earlier-injured starting offensive linemen Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson. The Giants will head into a tough matchup against a favored Cowboys team, but their draft slot will likely be determined by the actions of the Raiders, who seem to unashamedly be aiming for the No. 1 overall pick.
Raiders QB Geno Smith Expected To Start For Rest Of Season
A shoulder injury held Raiders quarterback Geno Smith out in Week 15, but he’s making a quick return. Head coach Pete Carroll announced that Smith will start against the Texans on Sunday (via Levi Edwards of Raiders.com). Smith is expected to remain the Raiders’ starter for the rest of the season.
Looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, the Raiders turned to veteran signal-caller Kenny Pickett in Philadelphia last Sunday. It couldn’t have gone much worse. Pickett completed 15 of 25 passes for a minuscule 64 yards in a 31-0 defeat. The Eagles intercepted the former first-round pick once and sacked him four times. The Raiders fell to 2-12 in their second shutout loss of 2025.
Pickett was dreadful last week, but it hasn’t exactly been a banner season for Smith. The Raiders hoped reuniting Smith with Carroll, who previously managed decent results together in Seattle, would lead them back to respectability. In hindsight, the franchise’s hierarchy of owner Mark Davis, part-owner Tom Brady, and general manager John Spytek might undo both the hiring of Carroll and the Smith pickup.
Just 14 games into his Raiders tenure, Carroll is already in danger of losing his job. Smith’s performance hasn’t helped Carroll’s cause.
The Raiders gave up a third-round pick for Smith and then handed him a two-year, $75MM extension, but he hasn’t justified either investment. The 35-year-old has logged 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and an 84.5 passer rating – his lowest full-season mark since 2014. He ranks 32nd among 33 qualifying passers in QBR, beating out only Titans rookie Cam Ward.
The Raiders are dead last in the league in points per game (14.0), and improving on that number in Houston will be a tall task for their Smith-led offense. The 9-5 Texans, who are riding a six-game winning streak, rank first in the league in total defense and PPG allowed (16.1).
If Sunday’s matchup goes as expected, the Raiders will remain in contention for the No. 1 overall pick. With two games left after that, management will soon decide whether to keep Smith around for another year. While Smith’s $18.5MM salary for 2026 is already guaranteed, that’s the only dead money they’d eat in releasing him. Another $8MM in guarantees is set to vest in early March, but the Raiders could move on before then. With Smith, Pickett, Aidan O’Connell, and Cam Miller comprising the Raiders’ current group of quarterbacks, odds are their 2026 starter isn’t in the organization yet.
Raiders To Start Kenny Pickett In Week 15
DECEMBER 12: Pickett will start on Sunday, Carroll announced (via Rapoport).
DECEMBER 10: Geno Smith‘s Raiders debut has not gone as expected, something that could be applied to the Las Vegas situation as a whole. The Smith-Pete Carroll floor-raising hopes are dashed, and the Super Bowl-winning HC is in danger of being a one-and-done — for a franchise that has failed to find stability this decade.
The Raiders lost Smith to a shoulder injury in Week 14, a loss to the Broncos, and the well-paid starter is not expected to return to face the Eagles in Week 15. Kenny Pickett is on track to start against one of his former teams, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes. This injury comes weeks after Smith suffered a quad contusion; the latter ailment did not force him to miss any starts.
Philadelphia traded Pickett after one season, marking the second of the former first-rounder’s three trade transactions to occur since March 2024. Philly sent Pickett to Cleveland this past March, leading to rumblings he would be the favorite to start for the Browns to open the season. A significant hamstring injury sidetracked any Pickett-QB1 hopes in Cleveland, and the Browns dealt him to the Raiders — who were looking for an Aidan O’Connell injury replacement — just before the season.
Although O’Connell is back off IR, the Raiders turned to Pickett to replace Smith on Sunday. Pickett threw a touchdown pass in garbage time, completing 8 of 11 passes for 97 yards. The Eagles installed the ex-Steeler draftee as their backup last season, acquiring him in a trade package headlined by a third-round pick, but decided Tanner McKee was ready to move up this offseason. Pickett facing a reeling Philly squad would certainly be interesting given both sides’ familiarity, though the Raiders’ current form makes them heavy underdogs regardless of QB.
Who the Raiders start in Week 15 is obviously less significant than their post-2025 plans, given their 2-11 record. Smith’s extension stood to buy the team some time in its quest for a true answer at QB. The team did not want Sam Darnold and joined the Giants in striking out on Matthew Stafford. One of the QB-needy teams to pass on Shedeur Sanders, the Raiders still profile as a team interested in a first-round addition here.
Smith’s two-year, $75MM extension runs through 2027 and carries $18.5MM in guaranteed salary for 2026. That would be the only dead money the Raiders would need to eat in the event of a release. Smith’s form this season certainly makes his Vegas future unstable, particularly if Carroll is out after one year.
Smith, 35, angled for a Seahawks extension and declined an offer similar in value to Darnold’s three-year, $100.5MM deal. He expected to be a Raider after Carroll was hired but has struggled for most of the season. Smith’s 14 interceptions lead the league, and only Cam Ward sits behind him (among 31 qualified passers) in QBR.
A return to the backup level may well be in the cards — via a Raiders demotion after a first-round investment or elsewhere — for 2026. For now, it will be interesting to see if Smith reclaims his job. Carroll has backed his former Seattle pupil this year, but concern about Smith’s form emerged as early as October. What is clear is the Raiders, who had Derek Carr in place as QB1 for nine seasons, will be looking hard at QBs for a fourth straight offseason.
Raiders’ Pete Carroll Backs QB Geno Smith
After they finished 4-13 in 2024, the Raiders entered this season hoping the new head coach-quarterback tandem of Pete Carroll and Geno Smith would produce far better results. While the two previously had success in Seattle, it hasn’t transferred to Las Vegas. The Raiders are now 2-8 after dropping their fourth straight game – a 33-16 beating at the hands of the Cowboys – on Monday.
Smith posted his latest subpar stat line in Week 11, going 27 of 42 for 238 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The 35-year-old has completed 66.3% of passes for 2,082 yards and more interceptions (13) than TDs (12) through 10 games. Smith owns an 80.9 passer rating, a far cry from his 95.9 mark in 54 games and 52 starts as a Seahawk, while his 32.6 QBR ranks 31st in the NFL.
Although Smith has performed more like the early career Jets version than the solid Seahawks starter, Carroll is standing behind the 12th-year man (via Ryan McFadden of ESPN).
“I continue to really believe in him,” Carroll said. “I have no hesitation in telling you that. He’s an incredible player, and he’s busting his tail [off]. …He’ll come through for us. We gotta help him out more.”
The Raiders took away some of Smith’s help when they shipped wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars before the Nov. 4 trade deadline. With Meyers gone, Smith’s only real weapons are the tight end duo of Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, receiver Tre Tucker, and running back Ashton Jeanty.
The Cowboys erased Jeanty as a rushing threat on Monday, which made it all the more difficult for Smith. Jeanty, the sixth overall pick in last spring’s draft, managed a microscopic seven yards on six carries. Smith doubled Jeanty’s output with a team-high 14 yards.
While the Raiders’ Smith-led offense ranks 30th in the league in both yards per game and scoring, a poor line has been a key contributor. The Raiders lost cornerstone left tackle Kolton Miller to a high ankle sprain in late September. Right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson suffered an ankle injury of his own in Week 10 and might not return this season. Miller and Powers-Johnson are missed on a line that surrendered four sacks on Monday. Having allowed 31 sacks this season, the Raiders rank 25th in the league.
The Raiders could have more difficulty blocking for Smith this Sunday against the Browns, who have piled up the NFL’s fourth-most sacks. Superstar Myles Garrett, coming off a four-sack showing in a loss to the Ravens last week, has amassed a league-high 15.
Smith could spend a good portion of Week 12 trying to evade Garrett, but he’ll attempt to bounce back and justify Carroll’s public vote of confidence. In the event Carroll eventually makes a change, Kenny Pickett, Aidan O’Connell, and Cam Miller represent the team’s other in-house signal-callers.
Pickett has disappointed and spent time with a total of four teams since the Steelers selected him 20th overall in the 2022 draft. The Raiders traded a 2025 third-rounder for Smith last offseason because O’Connell failed to establish himself as a capable starter from 2023-24. O’Connell has been on IR all season with a fractured wrist. The Raiders opened his 21-day practice window on Oct. 29, meaning they’re running out of time to activate him. Miller, a sixth-round rookie from North Dakota State, is on the practice squad.
Regardless of whether Smith finishes 2025 as the Raiders’ starter, they’ll have a decision to make on him in the offseason. The Raiders signed Smith to a two-year, $75MM extension when they acquired him, but they’ve already paid most of that. Moving on after the season would leave the Raiders with his fully guaranteed 2026 salary of $18.5MM as dead money. Smith’s remaining $8MM in guarantees will vest early in the league year next March. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Raiders cut the cord before that happens.
Raiders QB Geno Smith Suffers Quad Contusion
Raiders quarterback Geno Smith suffered a quad contusion in Thursday night’s loss to the Broncos, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Smith was injured on a first-down scramble in the fourth quarter. Backup Kenny Pickett came in for two plays, but Smith emerged from the blue medical tent for the Raiders’ next offensive series. The injury is unlikely to keep the veteran quarterback out for long; the Raiders’ mini-bye before Week 11 could give him enough time to heal up.
However, Smith is having his worst season since taking over as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback in 2022. He has thrown only 11 touchdowns and a league-high 12 interceptions for a 81.4 passer rating, the fourth-lowest in the NFL. The Raiders offense as a whole ranks 30th in points and total offense.
Smith has struggled enough to raise questions abut the Raiders’ short- and long-term future at quarterback. Pickett seems unlikely to be an improvement, but 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell has looked, at a minimum, competent in 17 starts across his first two seasons. He is 7-10 as a starter with an 85.1 career passer rating; he’s also under contract in 2026. He could take over for Smith this season and potential be a bridge quarterback next year if the Raiders do not acquire a new option this offseason.
Smith, meanwhile, signed a two-year, $75MM extension after he was traded to Las Vegas earlier this year. Currently, $18.5MM of his 2026 salary is fully guaranteed, and a guarantee on the remaining $8MM vests early in the 2026 league year, per OverTheCap. That gives the Raiders a brief window in March to move on from the 12-year veteran with only $18.5MM in dead money (as Smith did not receiving a signing bonus with his new deal). Las Vegas would have paid Smith $58.5MM for one season – minus any salary offsets if he signs elsewhere – but they would then be able to reset on the false start to the Pete Carroll era.
Raiders Are “Mildly Concerned” About QB Geno Smith
OCTOBER 12: No substantial discussions have occurred regarding a Smith-for-Pickett quarterback change, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Smith has been a starter for the past four seasons and has not been benched for non-injury-related purposes since his one-off start for Eli Manning in 2017 triggered a Giants regime change.
Conversely, Pickett has been on the backup level since the Steelers did not reinsert the 2022 first-rounder into their lineup late in the 2023 season. Smith enters Week 6 sitting 29th in QBR, with injuries to Bowers and Miller providing a notable effect early in Carroll’s run.
OCTOBER 8: Unsurprisingly, the concerns about Raiders quarterback Geno Smith are starting to mount. Following a two-interception showing that dropped Las Vegas to 1-4, the Raiders are “mildly concerned” about their veteran QB, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The organization understands that their offseason acquisition has to improve his play quickly. However, there isn’t any panic that Smith is a “broken” quarterback, and Graziano doesn’t anticipate a benching at any point during Week 6. Further, there’s some understanding that Smith has had to rely on an underwhelming receivers corps while also dealing with key TE/OL injuries to the likes of Brock Bowers, Michael Mayer, and Kolton Miller.
Graziano notes that Smith’s two interceptions from this past weekend weren’t necessarily his fault, including one that followed a missed offsides call against the Colts. On the flip side, scouts told Graziano that Smith seems overly reliant on his arm talent as he (unsuccessfully) throws the ball into tight windows. There’s also a belief that the veteran has been a bit slow with releasing the football.
Smith is currently pacing the NFL with nine interceptions, and the team’s six passing touchdowns ranks towards the bottom of the NFL. The Raiders acquired the veteran from the Seahawks this past offseason and later handed him a two-year, $75MM extension that technically keeps him tied to the franchise through the 2027 season. If Smith is indeed done, the team would be left with a significant cap hit (although there is an easy out after the 2026 campaign). Because of that financial commitment (coupled with his relationship with head coach Pete Carroll), it seems like Smith will be afforded a relatively long leash.
If the Raiders do decide to make a move at quarterback, Kenny Pickett would be the natural pivot. The Raiders snagged the quarterback in a trade with the Browns at the end of the preseason, providing the franchise with a low-cost veteran backup. The former Steelers draft pick did win 14 games in his two seasons as a mostly full-time starter, but ESPN’s Dan Graziano echoes Fowler’s sentiment that Smith would have to completely implode for the Raiders to make a change.
While much of the talk about the Raiders’ offensive struggles has surrounded the players, some of the coaches are also starting to feel the heat. Graziano notes that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is starting to draw criticism. Some league sources opined that Kelly’s scheme isn’t “creating enough advantages to overcome the Raiders’ personnel deficiencies,” which is also a clear indictment on the organization’s front office.
Geno Smith, Pete Carroll Discussed QB’s Seahawks Contract Frustration In 2024; Smith Expected Raiders Pursuit
After making a push for a Seahawks extension last year and not receiving it, Geno Smith admitted he felt out of place in Seattle. The three-year starter also played for a coaching staff that did not bring him in; that proved to be a significant factor regarding Smith’s 2024 approach and his long-term future in the Pacific Northwest.
Previously mentioned as having talked to Pete Carroll during his final Seahawks season, Smith discussed contract frustration with his former HC. This was an interesting strategy, seeing as Carroll held final roster say when Smith had signed his three-year, $75MM deal in 2023. But the communication between Smith and Carroll, whom the Seahawks had fired after the 2023 season, proved important.
“I was frustrated with my situation there. I was severely underpaid and thinking, ‘I should be getting the market or something close to it,’” Smith said, via SI.com’s Albert Breer. “I had talks with John Schneider, and he had talks with the higher-ups, and it just wasn’t gonna happen. And it disappointed me so much, and I didn’t know who to reach out to or to talk to. So I reached out to coach [Carroll], and he was there for me.”
Going into his third season as Seattle’s starter, Smith pushed for an offseason raise. With two years left on the deal agreed to during Carroll’s final year in charge, the Seahawks rebuffed their starting QB and kept him on the $25MM-per-year contract. Smith entered last season as the NFL’s 20th-highest-paid passer.
Smith’s age hurt his chances of landing a market-value deal, though frustration surfacing in 2024 made sense due to the contracts given out last year. Middling QBs Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa had each entered the $50MM-per-year club. All three more that doubled Smith in AAV. Smith’s Seahawks deal was also well south of the contracts Daniel Jones and Derek Carr were playing on at that point, and the Seattle pact morphed into a pay-as-you-go structure after 2023. But with the Seahawks controlling his rights through the 2025 season, he had little option but to play out the 2024 campaign on the lower-middle-class deal.
Carroll and Smith still texted throughout the season, Breer adds, and the QB saw the Super Bowl-winning HC’s Raiders arrival as a clear sign a reunion would commence. The Seahawks traded Smith to the Raiders for a third-round pick, with the team having offered him a deal in the ballpark of the three-year, $100.5MM proposal Sam Darnold later accepted. Schneider said the Smith negotiations did not last long, leading to the March trade pivot.
“When Carroll signed here, I knew he would be coming for me, and it was a matter of time before that happened,” Smith said, via ESPN.com’s Ryan McFadden. “The other options [I had], I kind of took them off the table. I looked at their offers, and they were decent offers, but I wanted to be with coach Carroll.”
Smith joined the Raiders after their failed Matthew Stafford trade pursuit, and after minority owner Tom Brady was believed to be uninterested in Darnold as a free agent. Rather than give strong consideration to a Carroll-Russell Wilson reunion, the Raiders made the Smith trade days before free agency. A month later, the parties agreed on a two-year, $75MM extension.
This is a markup from Smith’s Seattle terms, though it comes after the cap spiked by nearly $55MM from 2023-25. Between Smith’s 2023 Seattle contract and his 2025 Vegas agreement, a host of QB deals transpired. As a result, Smith entered this season as the NFL’s 17th-highest-paid passer. The Raiders did move him past Darnold and Baker Mayfield among the league’s middle-class QB1 sector, and Smith received far more fully guaranteed ($58.5MM) than Darnold had from the Seahawks ($37.5MM). Though, Darnold can lock in an additional $17.5MM if on the Seahawks’ roster by mid-February.
Even if Smith (35 in October) is highly unlikely to land an upper-crust QB deal, he has completed a career revival after a nomadic period as a backup. The league thought so little of him in 2019 that the Seahawks cut him to reorganize their roster that August. Although Seattle re-signed Smith soon after to back up Wilson, the team rostered him for $870K in 2019.
Smith did not join the Seahawks initially until May 2019, admitting (via McFadden) he considered retirement after his Jets stay turned into backup gigs with the Giants and Chargers. Workout partners Antonio Brown and Thaddeus Lewis were among those to talk him out of that route. That became good advice, even as Smith settled for low-end deals ($1.19MM in 2020, $1.21MM in 2021) to back up Wilson in the years that followed. Smith’s breakout 2022 season came while he was attached to a one-year, $3.5MM deal — as he needed to beat out trade pickup Drew Lock to succeed Wilson.
The Raiders are 1-2 under Smith, and the extension gives the team flexibility to continue pursuing a younger upgrade again next year. The Smith-Carroll duo represents a high-profile Raiders stopgap solution.
“I finally got my team,” Smith said, via McFadden. “I always felt like I was trying to replace Russell, and you can never replace all the great things that he did. So I never felt like Seattle was my team. Also, I didn’t feel like I fit the aesthetic of the Seattle organization. The Raiders just fit me.“