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Geno Smith

Raiders Are “Mildly Concerned” About QB Geno Smith

October 12th, 2025 at 8:40am CST by Ben Levine

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

September 24th, 2025 at 10:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

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.“

Largest 2025 Cap Hits: Offense

July 1st, 2025 at 10:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

Last offseason brought about a record-breaking jump in the salary cap. This year, the ceiling rose to $279.2MM, another notable spike. The market at a number of positions will benefit from the ongoing surge in spending power available to teams, with quarterbacks obviously the largest standout in that respect.

In 2024, a pair of signal-callers surpassed the $50MM mark in terms of cap charges for the season. That will not be the case this time around, but to little surprise quarterbacks once again lead the way in terms of representing the largest share of many teams’ financial commitments for 2025. Positions such as receiver and offensive tackle have also generally not reached the same peak in terms of cap commitments as last year.

Leading up to training camp, are the NFL’s top 25 cap charges for offensive players:

  1. Dak Prescott, QB (Cowboys): $50.52MM
  2. Matthew Stafford, QB (Rams): $47.47MM
  3. Joe Burrow, QB (Bengals): $46MM
  4. Lamar Jackson, QB (Ravens): $43.5MM
  5. Kyler Murray, QB (Cardinals): $43.33MM
  6. Kirk Cousins, QB (Falcons): $40MM
  7. Geno Smith, QB (Raiders): $40MM
  8. Tua Tagovailoa, QB (Dolphins): $39.18MM
  9. Justin Herbert, QB (Chargers): $37.35MM
  10. Josh Allen, QB (Bills): $36.34MM
  11. Deshaun Watson, QB (Browns): $35.97MM
  12. Jared Goff, QB (Lions): $32.6MM
  13. Taylor Moton, RT (Panthers): $31.35MM
  14. Jordan Love, QB (Packers): $29.69MM
  15. Patrick Mahomes, QB (Chiefs): $28.06MM
  16. Calvin Ridley, WR (Titans): $28MM
  17. Tyreek Hill, WR (Dolphins): $27.7MM
  18. Jawaan Taylor, RT (Chiefs): $27.39MM
  19. Baker Mayfield, QB (Buccaneers): $26.48MM
  20. Terry McLaurin, WR (Commanders): $25.5MM
  21. Mike Evans, WR (Buccaneers): $25.36MM
  22. D.J. Moore, WR (Bears): $24.9MM
  23. Tee Higgins, WR (Bengals): $24.06MM
  24. Ja’Marr Chase, WR (Bengals): $23.57MM
  25. Trey Smith, RG (Chiefs): $23.4MM

Prescott’s last-minute 2024 Cowboys extension made him the first player in NFL history to carry an AAV of $60MM. That pact will have lasting impacts well beyond the coming campaign, as the team looks to also fit in the big-ticket extension CeeDee Lamb inked last summer and the one Micah Parsons is in position to sign at some point before Week 1.

Once again, Stafford and the Rams entered the spring with plenty of uncertainty. Retirement was a consideration quickly done away with in the case of the 37-year-old, but it remained to be seen if he would remain in Los Angeles. Trade offers came in from numerous suitors, and the chance existed for Stafford to land a more lucrative deal elsewhere. In the end, though, team and player reached agreement on another reworked pact. Stafford is now in line to receive $84MM over the next two years, including guaranteed money in 2026. A bit of continuity will thus be in place under center for the Rams.

2020 draft classmates Burrow, Tagovailoa and Herbert are understandable top-10 players on this list given their respective deals. All three are on the books for years to come as they look to unseat the Chiefs atop the AFC. Burrow spoke about restructuring his pact to create the cap space necessary for the Bengals to retain or extend each of their key in-house players this offseason. That has yet to take place, and it will be interesting to see if a reworking is explored while talks on the Trey Hendrickson front continue.

The Ravens have worked out a few extensions on offense already (Derrick Henry, Rashod Bateman) but Jackson looms as a candidate for a new deal. Three years remain on his pact, but starting in 2026 his cap charge is scheduled so spike well past its current figure. The two-time MVP has discussed a new arrangement this offseason, and a bump in guarantees and overall compensation similar to what the Bills did with Allen would come as no surprise.

Cousins’ figure stands out, of course, given the fact he is slated to operate as Atlanta’s backup this season. With no release coming and no trade imminent, the four-time Pro Bowler is set to stay in place behind Michael Penix Jr. Cousins has made progress in his rehab from shoulder and ankle injuries suffered prior to his benching midway through his debut Atlanta season. With $10MM already guaranteed for next year, it will be interesting to see if a trade market develops in the coming months in his case.

With the exception of Watson – whose second Achilles tear is set to sideline him for most or all of the coming campaign – the remaining quarterbacks on the list are positioned to serve as starters for their respective teams. Only Geno Smith will be suiting up for a new organization after he was traded from the Seahawks to the Raiders. That swap was followed up by a two-year, $75MM extension and allowed him to reunite with head coach Pete Carroll. A short-term upgrade under center will be key as Vegas looks to find stability on the sidelines and in the front office.

Moton’s cap figure was a talking point earlier this offseason, but the Panthers are content to avoid a fourth restructure in his case. The pending free agent hopes to finish his career in Carolina, but an extension would have helped ensure that while lowering his immediate cap charge. In the absence of such an agreement, it will be interesting to see if Moton, 30, can deliver another strong showing in 2025.

Ridley is perhaps a surprising figure to lead the way in terms of cap charges at the receiver spot. He will operate as a key member of the Titans’ offense, a unit whose success will of course depend in large part on the play of rookie Cam Ward. Ridley has two more years left on his deal beyond 2025, but with limited guarantees owed over that span his Tennessee future could be greatly impacted by who this season plays out.

The likes of Hill, Evans and Moore are not currently the subject of speculation regarding their future. McLaurin, however, was absent from much of the Commanders’ spring practices with little progress being made at the negotiating table. Plenty of work is still required at this point to avoid a potential free agent departure next spring. Coming off a career-high in touchdowns while thriving alongside Jayden Daniels, the two-time Pro Bowler is in line for a raise which will likely lower his cap hit this season.

Chase and Higgins inked their deals simultaneously, putting an end to questions regarding where the latter in particular would play on his second contract. Those two, together with Burrow, will serve as foundational players for years to come in Cincinnati. It will be interesting to see how long Chase (with an AAV of $40.25MM) remains the league’s top earner in that respect for non-quarterbacks.

Kansas City’s offensive line faces questions entering the season. Despite his big-ticket contract, Taylor is not a lock to remain a starter at this point. With no guaranteed left on the final year of his deal (2026), a parting of ways could be in store next spring if a backup gig ensues. Trey Smith, meanwhile, remains attached to the franchise tag although an extension is among the team’s remaining offseason priorities.

New Regime Drew Geno Smith To Raiders

April 10th, 2025 at 3:40pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

At first glance, the surprising trade that sent Geno Smith from the Seahawks to the Raiders appeared to be about money.

It’s a familiar story in the NFL: a player wants more money than his current team is willing to offer, and requests to be traded to a new team who will meet his demands. That seemed to be the case when the Raiders gave Smith a two-year, $75MM extension a few weeks after they acquired him.

But Smith insists that the move wasn’t only about money, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. His relationships with key members of the Raiders’ new regime – head coach Pete Carroll, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, and minority owner Tom Brady – showed him the respect and opportunity he could have in Las Vegas.

Carroll forged a lasting bond during Smith’s career turnaround in Seattle, which included a Comeback Player of the Year award in 2022 and a three-year, $75MM extension in 2023. Though Carroll left the Seahawks in 2024, the two remained in touch as Smith navigated the ups-and-downs of a 10-7 season under a new head coach.

“I would call him whenever I got frustrated,” said Smith (via Breer). “He talked me through things, and he still coached me. And I think that’s what makes him such a special man, is that he was coaching me even when he wasn’t my head coach. A lot of the things that he was telling me, a lot of conversations we had really kept me steady throughout the season, and kept my head on straight.

In January, the Raiders hired Carroll as their next head coach. Two months later, negotiation talks between Smith and the Seahawks broke down, leading them to take calls on a potential trade. Seattle wanted to work with Smith on finding his new home and notified his agent of the Raiders’ interest.

Having Carroll as his head coach was a plus. So was the Raiders’ new offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, who tried to recruit a teenage Smith to Oregon more than a decade ago. The two renewed their connection when Kelly coached Smith’s cousin, star wideout Jeremiah Smith, at Ohio State.

“We never got the chance to be player-coach,” said Smith. “But I’ve always wanted to explore that. We’ve always had a good rapport with one another.”

And then there was Brady, the legendary quarterback who bought a minority stake in the Raiders in 2024 and played a major role in their organizational overhaul this offseason. Brady recognized the mental traits that will give Smith a chance at playing into his 40s, like Brady did, and his vote of confidence loomed large in Smith’s mind.

With excitement about the franchise’s new leadership and the prospect of a financial commitment past 2025, Smith realized that the Raiders offered the brightest future.

“I just thought the opportunity in Vegas, man, it was just too, too, too great to pass up,” he said.

Raiders To Extend QB Geno Smith

April 4th, 2025 at 11:10am CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 4: Smith’s 2025 compensation will jump from $31MM to $40MM, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. The 2026 season includes a $26.5MM base salary; $18.5MM of that figure is already locked in. The remainder will shift from an injury to a full guarantee of the third day of the ’26 league year.

None of Smith’s salary for 2027 ($39.5MM) is locked in, a sign of the short-term nature of this commitment. $3.5MM in annual incentives bring the maximum value of the pact to $116.5MM, but with an out after the 2026 season (and perhaps earlier) it is highly unlikely Smith will approach that figure.

APRIL 3: The Raiders have a deal done with Geno Smith. They are giving the trade acquisition a two-year extension, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This will keep the ex-Seahawks starter under contract through 2027.

It appears initial reports, like when Smith signed his 2023 Seahawks contract, featured a slight inflation. Smith’s Raiders deal will be worth $75MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Earlier reports indicated the deal checked in at $85.5MM, though Schefter indicates that represents the pact’s max value. Smith’s new contract will come with $66.5MM guaranteed, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports.

This represents a bridge deal for both parties, though Smith’s age may well make this his final starter-level contract. Set to turn 35 in October, Smith had angled for a deal north of $40MM per year. That aim prompted the Seahawks to trade their three-year starter rather than agree to his price. The Raiders, after being prepared to give Matthew Stafford a big guarantee in a trade, pounced and reunited him with Pete Carroll.

This marks Carroll’s second time signing off on a Smith starter-level contract, as he was in place as the Seahawks’ top decision-maker when they gave him a three-year, $75MM deal in 2023. That turned out to bring good value for the Seahawks, who held Smith to the deal even as he pushed for a new one in 2024. Although Smith could not quite reach that $40MM-per-year point during his Raiders talks, the reclamation project did secure a significant raise.

At $37.5MM per year, Smith again will come in with a lower-middle-class contract on a skyrocketing QB market. When Smith signed his $25MM-AAV deal in March 2023, the league had not seen the $50MM-per-year club form. It has now, with 10 passers comprising it. Smith only moves up a few spots on the QB salary list, and it is certainly no coincidence his new AAV matches Derek Carr‘s Saints number.

Though, it is notable the Raiders were only comfortable matching that — as Carr secured those terms when the cap resided at barely $224MM. It is now at $279.2MM, inviting questions about the Raiders’ commitment level. The Raiders were ready to give Stafford a deal that included at least $90MM guaranteed. The Rams standing down and retaining their starter forced the Raiders and Giants to look elsewhere, and both teams approved cheaper contracts to address their QB voids.

Rather than dive into the free agent QB market and enter a draft chock full of maligned passing prospects, the Raiders traded a third-round pick for Smith. They are catching the former second-rounder going into his 13th NFL season, but these terms align with Carroll’s stopgap coaching contract. The Raiders gave Carroll a three-year deal, one aimed at bringing stability to an organization that has lacked it for many years. We now have a timeline on the latest Carroll-Smith partnership, as this contract buys the AFC West club some time to find a true long-term option.

It also should not be viewed as a random occurrence that Smith’s deal surpasses Sam Darnold‘s new Seattle AAV, which is $33.5MM. The Seahawks have been out of the franchise-QB payment game since trading Russell Wilson to the Broncos, and rather than reunite with Wilson, Carroll chose Smith and now has him tied to the NFL’s 16th-highest QB contract. This should give the Raiders some flexibility, though it will be interesting to learn what the guarantee at signing is.

The Raiders gave Carr two franchise-QB-level extensions, the first (in 2017) setting an NFL record and the second (in 2022) being a clear bridge deal while the Josh McDaniels-led regime evaluated the fit. As the fit proved poor, the Raiders soon lost their QB stability by cutting Carr. They have moved on from their past two Week 1 starters — Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew — via post-June 1 cuts. Smith will enter 2025 — barring a surprise first-round QB draft choice — on steadier ground compared to his two veteran predecessors in Vegas, though this contract length does invite questions beyond 2025.

New Raiders GM John Spytek said recently the Raiders want Smith as their starter for “years to come.” Smith may well have the inside track to be the Silver and Black’s starter in 2026 as well, but the Raiders figure to do more QB homework ahead of next year’s draft; as of now, that crop looks better than what the 2025 draft presents. Smith, however, will have a chance to keep his post-30 momentum going.

Although Smith bettered his Comeback Player of the Year completion rate (69.8, a number that led the league in 2022) by connecting on 70.4% of his throws last season, he threw 15 interceptions. Smith’s yards-per-attempt number (7.5) matched his 2022 breakthrough, but he was also working with a skill-position group better than what he inherits in Las Vegas. Brock Bowers delivered a historic tight end rookie season, but questions about for the Raiders at the other spots. How Spytek, Carroll and Tom Brady address the receiver position will play a key role in how their QB trade asset fares.

Prior to acquiring Carr, the Raiders carried an extensive history of late-career QB projects — from Carson Palmer to Rich Gannon to Jeff George to Jeff Hostetler to Jim Plunkett. While the Garoppolo swing and miss highlighted an overmatched regime, Carroll’s familiarity with Smith should help the Raiders pick up the pieces after a rough period.

Raiders Aiming For Long-Term QB Geno Smith Deal

March 31st, 2025 at 8:30am CST by Adam La Rose

MARCH 31: More than three weeks after the Raiders’ Smith trade, the three-year Seahawks starter remains on his Seattle deal. But Carroll confirmed (via ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson) the team is “working on” an extension for its new QB1. Carroll was with Seattle when the team re-signed Smith in 2023, and while longtime Seahawks copilot John Schneider did not see eye-to-eye with the passer’s camp about value on a new contract, Carroll’s new team is all set to sign off on one.

MARCH 28: The Raiders have their quarterback of the present in the form of Geno Smith, and he will reunite with head coach Pete Carroll for the 2025 campaign. Smith’s time in Vegas could stretch well beyond the final year of his current deal, of course.

The Seahawks quickly realized a new accord would not be worked out this offseason, prompting the decision to trade Smith and turn their attention to Sam Darnold. One season remains on the current pact for the Raiders’ new QB1, and shortly after his arrival signs began pointing to an extension being worked out. One is not in place yet, although optimism remains that an agreement will be reached shortly.

When speaking about the Smith acquisition, new Raiders general manager John Spytek noted Carroll’s presence played a role in the move. That comes as no surprise, since the veteran head coach worked with Smith in Seattle from 2020-23. During that stretch, the two-time Pro Bowler had a pair of seasons atop the QB depth chart in the wake of the Russell Wilson trade and played his way into an extension averaging $25MM per season. A much higher asking price is in play this time around.

“The compensation from a draft-capital standpoint wasn’t so costly,” Spytek said during an appearance on the team’s Upon Further Review podcast. “I love my picks more than anybody… But, listen, we used a late third-round pick to hopefully have our starting quarterback here for years to come. And it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“When you’ve watched Geno through the years, he can throw the football with the best of any of them, honestly,” Spytek added. “I mean, you watch some of the throws he makes over and over again downfield, you know, short, intermediate. The touch is there, the arm strength is there.”

Smith, 34, has stated a desire to continue his career to the point of 20 NFL seasons. That goal could very well include a lengthy Raiders tenure if a new deal can be worked out soon, although the draft looms as a means of adding a long-term answer at the position. Vegas is set to select sixth overall next month, and the team has frequently been connected to Shedeur Sanders. A drop out of the first round – and more specifically the top 10 – is not expected in the Colorado product’s case, meaning the Raiders would need to be aggressive in pursuing him.

The remainder of the draft will of course offer Spytek and Co. other opportunities to acquire a young passer, something which makes the Smith extension situation an interesting one. If a long-term arrangement is indeed the team’s goal, it would come as no surprise if negotiations on that front picked up before the start of the draft.

Raiders Nearing Geno Smith Extension?

March 16th, 2025 at 1:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

MARCH 16: Smith has a $16MM roster bonus that is due today, per The Athletic’s Tashan Reed. The Raiders will pay him that money, but for accounting purposes, it can be incorporated into an extension as a signing bonus. That would also allow the Raiders to reduce his $31MM 2025 cap hit.

MARCH 14: The Raiders do not appear to be planning to hold Geno Smith to his Seahawks-constructed contract going into the season. An extension is considered likely, and it could be coming soon.

Smith is expected to agree to a new deal this week, The Athletic’s Tashan Reed reports. Smith negotiated with the Seahawks this offseason, but the sides were far apart on terms. As Smith’s camp pushed for a deal north of $40MM per year, the Seahawks offered him a similar contract to the one they gave Sam Darnold (three years, $100.5MM). The value gap led Seattle to trade Smith to Las Vegas, which will now be tasked with pinpointing the middling quarterback’s price.

Proving more valuable than his current contract suggests, Smith is coming off a season where he eclipsed his 2022 Comeback Player of the Year campaign in passing yards (4,320) and completion percentage (70.4) while matching his yards-per-attempt number (7.5) from that breakout season. He is tied to a deal in QB no-man’s land (three years, $75MM). No quarterback is within $5MM AAV of Smith either way, with Justin Fields (two years, $40MM) and the Darnold/Baker Mayfield range being the closest to the new Raiders starter.

The Seahawks not moving close to $40MM per year for Smith illustrates their view of the ex-Russell Wilson backup. While Smith has not been connected to approaching the $50MM-per-year club, that ballooning contract tier has raised the market as a whole. Smith exited last season as the NFL’s 18th-highest-paid QB; Darnold’s deal bumped him to 19th.

Smith is going into his age-35 season, which offers another complication. The Raiders, however, are likely to authorize an extension that covers at least three years in length, Reed adds. Smith is joining a Las Vegas team that had slogged through two grim years at quarterback following the team’s December 2022 Derek Carr benching, one that led to a release weeks later. Carr had kept the Raiders’ QB1 reins longer than anyone in team history, and the Josh McDaniels regime did not effectively replace him, as Jimmy Garoppolo did not play well despite being given a three-year deal that nearly matched Smith’s Seattle numbers.

The Raiders aggressively pursued Matthew Stafford, though Smith’s age and familiarity with Pete Carroll probably makes him a better fit. Stafford is heading into an age-37 season. With the Raiders finishing 4-13 after Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell operated as the primary passers and playing in a division that sent three teams to the playoffs and one to Super Bowl LIX, identifying a starter who could be in place for a few seasons probably lined up better than trading for a year-to-year QB who would have still drawn a guarantee in the $100MM range.

Smith secured only $27.3MM at signing from the Seahawks, who had paid him just $3.5MM in 2022 and lower rates before that. Mayfield received $50MM guaranteed in total ($40MM at signing), while Darnold’s locked-in number likely rivals that. If the Raiders give Smith a deal in the $40MM-per-year range, the guarantee will need to come in higher than where Mayfield’s settled last year. Regardless of where that number comes in, the Raiders will soon be back in the franchise-QB contract game.

Geno Smith Trade Resulted From Failed Extension Talks

March 14th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Ely Allen

One of the bigger pieces of information that we didn’t expect to come out during this free agency craziness was the trade of quarterback Geno Smith from Seattle to Las Vegas. The deal seemed to come out of nowhere, as many reports indicated that negotiations on an extension were underway.

After seeing a resurgent past three seasons in Seattle that included two Pro Bowl berths, Smith was hoping for the team to give him some commitment moving forward, though the team was expected to explore their options. After head coach Mike Macdonald delivered his endorsement of a new deal for Smith and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak cited Smith as a “huge draw” for the job, it began to seem that things were trending in the right direction for an extension to keep Smith in Seattle.

A little over a week after negotiations opened, though, the trade was announced. According to a couple of sources, the trade was a direct result of the Seahawks and Smith failing to come to agreeable terms on the extension. Per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic, general manager John Schneider claimed that it had become “apparent” that the two sides were not going to be able to meet in the middle.

The 34-year-old quarterback still had one year left on his current deal, but he had been public about his desire for a new contract that reflected his status as a “top-tier” passer. Dugar’s report from Schneider says that when Seattle submitted what they thought was a fair offer, it quickly became clear that “there was no back and forth coming.” Schneider said that “it wasn’t a very long negotiation” before it became “pretty evident” that Smith would need to be traded.

Despite the hardball-negotiation-nature that that implies, Schneider told The Athletic that Smith did not ask for a trade. Likewise, the Seahawks did not shop Smith out. The Raiders simply reached out with interest at the right time, and after not getting a counteroffer from the extension they offered to Smith, Seattle felt it was making the right move for all parties involved.

The other report on this situation comes from Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. While Schultz’s rendition aligns with Dugar on much of the developments of the extension discussions, Schultz disagrees with Dugar on two major points. Schultz claims that, after four days of unsuccessful contract negotiations — which doesn’t seem to agree with Schneider’s description of quick negotiations — Smith requested a trade last Thursday night.

Whether or not it was Smith that requested the trade, the Seahawks that shopped Smith out, or the Raiders who intervened on Smith’s behalf ultimately may not end up mattering that much. Seattle was never going to get up to the number Smith desired, and with a “major sign-off from Tom Brady,” new head coach Pete Carroll was able to bring over his former quarterback to the Raiders. Now, we’re seeing reports that Las Vegas is nearing an extension agreement with Smith, indicating that the Raiders may be more willing to reach that number that Smith desired.

Seahawks, Sam Darnold Finalizing Deal

March 10th, 2025 at 11:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

The rumblings coming out of the Geno Smith trade look to indeed have produced a deal. Sam Darnold is expected to head to Seattle as the team’s first outside QB1 addition since Russell Wilson 13 years ago.

Darnold and the Seahawks are finalizing a deal worth nearly $100MM, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Darnold had been linked to a Baker Mayfield-level contract, and it appears the 2024 Vikings Pro Bowler will settle on that tier after a breakthrough season. A price discrepancy has emerged, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the deal is for $110.5MM in total and comes with $55MM guaranteed. If the latter numbers are correct, Darnold bettered Mayfield’s Buccaneers terms.

A weekend report pegged the Vikings as being out on Darnold, and Minnesota now must shift to another veteran option. The Vikings passed on a $40.2MM franchise tag for the resurgent passer but expressed interest in a re-signing at a lower rate. That always ran the risk of a separation, as the open market opened the door for more suitors to speak with the seven-year veteran. Darnold will replace Smith as Seattle’s starter.

The Seahawks proposed a similar deal to Smith, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Seeking a contract north of $40MM per year, Smith rejected the proposal. That led to the sides separating, and it will be the Raiders who will enter extension talks with the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year.

Mayfield signed a three-year, $100MM deal to stay with the Bucs last March; $50MM came guaranteed. That contract came in well north of Smith’s 2023 Seahawks terms (3/75), and the Wilson successor angled for a better deal in 2024. The Seahawks passed at that point, as two seasons remained on their then-starter’s contract. While they were readier to extend Smith this year, a sizable gap in terms led to the impasse that produced the trade. Darnold, 27, does not have as much quality work on his resume compared to Mayfield or Smith, but he hit free agency after a $24MM cap spike.

Cast aside by the Jets and Panthers, Darnold has received training in the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay (via Kevin O’Connell) offenses. New Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak coming from the Shanahan tree should make this a fairly smooth transition, though Darnold’s skill-position corps may not rival what the Vikings just presented. After throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, Darnold is joining a team that just traded D.K. Metcalf and cut Tyler Lockett.

Although the Seahawks still have work to do at receiver, they do carry promising running backs Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Noah Fant remains on the Seattle roster as well. Darnold will carry significant risk, as the Vikings presented a strong situation for a bounce-back season. The Jets traded him after three mediocre seasons, and injuries kept Darnold off the field for much of his Carolina tenure — one that featured Matt Rhule preferring Mayfield to him. Darnold did not threaten Brock Purdy for the 49ers’ job in 2023, though he did beat out Trey Lance for the QB2 position fairly easily.

Darnold threw 35 touchdown passes last season, eclipsing his previous career best by 16, and finished with 4,319 yards — roughly 1,200 more than his previous-best mark. This season included a Vikings road win over the Seahawks, as the team soared to 14-3 despite separating from Kirk Cousins.

Darnold, however, faceplanted in the Vikings’ two biggest games. Blowout losses commenced against the Lions in Week 18 — a do-or-die game for home-field advantage in the NFC — and against the Rams in Round 1. This undoubtedly proved costly for the passer, but it does not appear his market suffered immensely from the late-season undoing.

The Seahawks still figure to do work on the 2026 and ’27 QB draft classes, but this commitment covers them for a bit. Darnold will have a chance to prove last season’s breakout was legitimate, while the Seahawks can rest easier as today’s QB carousel heats up. Despite hopping on late, Seattle became a destination for PFR’s No. 1 overall free agent.

Raiders Declined Seahawks’ Offer For Maxx Crosby; Sam Darnold Likely To Choose Seattle?

March 8th, 2025 at 11:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks aimed much higher in a Geno Smith trade compared to what they eventually received. Fetching a third-round pick three years after their Russell Wilson trade brought eight assets back, the Seahawks asked the Raiders about a player who drew trade interest before last year’s deadline.

Seattle included Maxx Crosby in its trade talks with Las Vegas, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, who indicates the NFC West team asked for Crosby in a trade that would have sent Smith and D.K. Metcalf to the Raiders. The Raiders quickly informed the Seahawks Crosby was a non-starter, and the team reached a record-setting extension with the star edge rusher earlier this week.

As Metcalf still looms as a trade possibility, the Seahawks will have a new starting quarterback in 2025. They have become the lead suitor for Sam Darnold, with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini adding that several execs around the league expect Darnold to end up in Seattle. The Titans have also emerged as a front-line Darnold suitor, but that looks to have changed after this Smith trade, which has brought several Darnold-Seattle links.

Mark Davis said last year Crosby was not available, and although another trade link emerged early this offseason, no serious traction came out of it. The Raiders have since signed Crosby to a three-year, $106.5MM extension. That deal came together quickly, with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio indicating it took only “a matter of hours” for the sides to hammer out the extension. That is rather surprising, considering that Crosby set a new non-QB contract record despite only agreeing to a three-year term.

Crosby will receive $62.5MM guaranteed at signing, Florio adds, with that figure including his 2025 and ’26 base salaries. Crosby’s 2027 base salary ($29MM) is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. That will amount to a practical guarantee, as the Raiders will be extraordinarily unlikely to move on from Crosby next year. Crosby’s 2028 and ’29 base salaries are nonguaranteed.

It is worth wondering if the Seahawks and Raiders’ Smith talks impacted the Crosby extension. Even if they did not, Seattle attempting to land the dominant pass rusher in a package that would have reunited Pete Carroll with Metcalf as well is quite noteworthy. The Raiders could still acquire Metcalf and/or Tyler Lockett, the latter becoming a free agent minutes before the younger Seahawks wideout’s trade request surfaced. The Seahawks want the Metcalf trade matter resolved by the draft.

Metcalf was linked to preferring a warm-weather city and landing in a place with more quarterback stability. This could certainly be perceived as a knock on Smith, and ESPN.com’s Lindsey Thiry adds that the Smith trade — and Darnold-to-Seattle rumors — could alter the Metcalf conversation in Seattle. Darnold has not been as good as Smith on the whole, though the Vikings QB outplayed the former Comeback Player of the Year in 2024.

Darnold is now expected to leave Minnesota, and it will be interesting to see how far Seattle will need to go contractually to land the breakthrough passer. The Seahawks’ offense will lack the overall weaponry the Vikings’ provided, especially if the team trades Metcalf. Keeping Metcalf would make the Seahawks more appealing to Darnold, even though Jaxon Smith-Njigba authored a breakout season. Darnold will understandably want to know how serious the Seahawks are about moving Metcalf before he commits, as other suitors’ offers could still impact a Darnold-to-Seattle path.

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