This Offseason Move Was a No-Brainer for the Raiders

Earlier this offseason, Carroll explained what went into the process of the Raiders landing Smith via trade from the Seattle Seahawks for only a third-round pick.

"It was one of the options that I was hoping would be available. And when we talked right from the beginning, there was a number of options of who we to go to at quarterback to kind of start the program, and Geno [Smith] was prominent in my mind, because I know exactly what we're getting. And Geno and I have a tremendously long, in-depth relationship. I've talked to him all throughout this year at times," Carroll said.

"You'd be surprised how much we were just communicating, stayed in touch. And really, it's about me supporting him and hoping for the best. And so, when it came around time where we can finally get to it, it was an automatic that we would take a shot at it. And fortunately, Seattle was willing to listen, and John Spytek did his first big-time deal, and we pulled it off exactly in the manner that we wanted to. And so, it gave us a great kick start to what's going on." 

With the Raiders entering training camp, Carroll noted that Smith's transition has gone well so far. Las Vegas needs Smith and Carroll to perform their best this upcoming season to solidify this offseason as a productive one.

"It's really - it's been a natural transition. From the time we first contacted him and let him know that we were in on this deal, and we were trying to see if we can make some sense of it, we were both excited about it. And so, I feel really like we are connected at the hip. We have so much background. I mean, it's not just the couple seasons that he played, it's all of the years that he was there," Carroll said.

"Because to me, coaching the next quarterback up is really, really crucial. And so, we spent a lot of time communicating and setting our priorities straight, staying on course, and he's just been a champion at that. And now he comes out the other end of that time frame, and he's an elite quarterback in the league. And so, what he brings to us is great confidence. He brings to me, I know that we're going to get great play out of his spot. So it's really easy to work that out." 

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