Analysis of Geno Smith joining the Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders have an answer to their biggest question of the offseason.

On Friday, the Raiders took their swing at quarterback, landing Geno Smith in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks. In return for the veteran, the Raiders sent a 2025 third-round pick to Seattle. Las Vegas is taking the final year of Smith’s contract, which includes his full $31 million cap hit for 2025.

With the Raiders now with a solution under center, here is what this means for the Raiders now and in the future.

Smith’s fit with the Raiders

Smith joined up with new Raiders head coach Pete Carroll in Seattle in 2022, and proceeded to rejuvenate what was once a stagnating career.

In that magical 2022 season, Smith broke out with 4,282 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. While he has yet to replicate the success of that year, Smith still has two 4,000-yard passing seasons over the last three years. That should be music to the ears of Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers, as both crossed the 1,000-yard threshold last season despite shaky quarterback play.

Smith will be a new face, however, for offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. However, Kelly will benefit Smith’s game, as he has shown an ability to diversify his play-calling in order to better suit the team’s strengths. Whatever philosophy Carroll wants the Raiders to adopt, Kelly will ensure Smith is prepared to lead the kind of offense it demands.

Smith is not the kind of quarterback to lift the Raiders to contender status, but he makes them a much tougher out than last season.

Shift in offseason strategy

With all of the talk around quarterbacks ceasing suddenly, the Raiders now can place their attention on improving the rest of the roster.

Part of the change for the Raiders should be focused on improving the supporting cast around Smith. Adding another receiving threat makes sense for the Raiders to keep the attention off of Bowers and Meyers, and the team can focus on the Seahawks again by either signing cap cut Tyler Lockett or trading for D.K. Metcalf. The running game also must improve, as the Raiders finished last in the league with 79,8 rushing yards per game.

The draft is another matter that has changed on its head. While the chatter surrounded Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, adding Smith has likely put an end to that conversation. With the pressure now off, general manager John Spytek can now allow the board to fall to the Raiders and go the ‘best player available’ route.

Getting Smith before the new league year starts will have massive repercussions on what the Raiders decide to do from this point on.

Are the Raiders done at quarterback?

While Smith is a good option for a short-term fix, the Raiders should not be finished just yet in remodeling their quarterback room.

Ward and Sanders were not the only quarterbacks the Raiders spoke with at the NFL Combine. They also visited with Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Texas’s Quinn Ewers, reportedly coming away impressed with both players. Ohio State’s Will Howard is coming off a much rougher showing at the event, but his familiarity with Kelly’s offense still makes him a viable option.

Milroe, Ewers and Howard all fall in the same tier of quarterback, where they will need at least a season or two on the bench before the Raiders even consider putting them in regular season games. That said, the Raiders are well-insulated with Aidan O’Connell still on the roster. Smith and O’Connell serving as the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart while drafting a developmental backup in the middle rounds of the draft sounds like a fantastic idea to get the ball rolling.

The Raiders made their biggest move of the season, but the work to improve at the game’s most important position is not over.