Should the Raiders extend Geno Smith’s contract?
The Las Vegas Raiders made a big move to acquire Geno Smith in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, and it was an important move to stabilize the team and establish a floor for the 2025 season.
“Getting Geno was as good as they could have done in their situation,” an exec said, via Mike Sando of The Athletic. “They aren’t getting a quarterback they feel confident in where they are picking in the draft (No. 6). They get a guy who has won.”
Executives around the league believe that the Raiders’ priority should be to build a strong defense to pair with Smith, who is a solid quarterback but does have some inconsistencies.
“I don’t know if the rest of the team is going to be reflective of Geno’s ceiling this year, but I think they will win 8-9 games even if they are good around him, because of his inconsistency,” an exec said, via Sando. “That goes up if they can build a top-five defense.”
The lingering question with Smith is whether or not he will sign an extension with the Raiders. Shortly after the trade, that was seen as close to an inevitability, but nothing has happened since. Another executive said that Tom Brady, who is involved with Raiders ownership now, will not want to lock the team into Smith long-term.
“They can franchise him twice, so why would they lock themselves into him unnecessarily?” another exec said, via Sando. “Tom Brady is not going to rip it up and give him $45 million a year. They should go year to year.”
Acquiring Smith was likely the Raiders’ best move at quarterback for the 2025 season, but he might not be the best option for 2026 and beyond. It will be interesting to see if Smith gets an extension, and how he fares in Las Vegas in 2025.