The quarterback carousel stops in Vegas.
The Las Vegas Raiders have their new signal caller. They have agreed to a trade to acquire veteran Geno Smith from the Seattle Seahawks, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
The deal cannot be official until Wednesday, when the NFL’s new league year begins, and the free agent market also opens.
The trade reunites Smith with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, whom the Raiders hired as their coach in January after one season in a management role with the Seahawks. The Raiders are expected to send a third-round draft pick to the Seahawks in the deal.
Smith, who turns 35 in October, spent the past three seasons as the Seahawks’ starter following the departure of Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos after the 2021 campaign. He earned Pro Bowls nods in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He has a lot of experience, making 83 starts during a 12-year NFL career that also has included stints with the New York Jets, New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers.
He has one year left on a contract that includes a $14.8 million base salary and bonuses totaling $16.2 million in 2025. The Raiders did not immediately complete a contract extension with Smith in conjunction with the trade agreement, so he is eligible for unrestricted free agency next offseason.
Embed from Getty ImagesLast season, Smith threw for 4,320 yards and 21 touchdowns with 15 interceptions as the Seahawks went 10-7 and missed the NFC playoffs. Team officials had said they planned to retain him, but now they must find a new starter as the NFL’s veteran quarterback reshuffling begins.
Sam Darnold, Wilson, Justin Fields and Daniel Jones are among the quarterbacks eligible for unrestricted free agency next week. The NFL’s two-day free agent legal tampering period begins on Monday. That is when free agents can begin negotiating with other teams, solely through their agents. Any deals they might line up cannot be official until Wednesday.
The Minnesota Vikings declined to use their franchise-player tag to limit Darnold’s free agent mobility but appear interested in attempting to re-sign him. Wilson and Fields spent last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jones, the former Giants starter, closed out the season as a Vikings backup
The Jets said on Super Bowl Sunday that they will end their relationship with Aaron Rodgers and presumably will release him. The Atlanta Falcons could trade or release Kirk Cousins after he lost the team’s starting job late last season to rookie Michael Penix Jr. out of the University of Washington.
The Raiders apparently had been interested in trying to trade for Matthew Stafford before he agreed to a revised contract to remain with the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams had granted Stafford and his agent permission to speak to other teams, and Raiders part-owner Tom Brady reportedly met with Stafford at a Montana ski resort.
When Stafford was not dealt, the Raiders were left to find their bearings and regroup. There had been speculation that they might sign Wilson as a free agent to reunite him with Carroll. They spent a decade together in Seattle, in which Wilson was selected to nine Pro Bowls and the Seahawks reached two Super Bowls, winning one of them.
Instead, Carroll’s reunion will come with Smith as the Raiders attempt to rebuild from a 4-13 season under Antonio Pierce. The NFL’s team owners approved Brady’s deal for part-ownership of the franchise in October, and he has taken an active role in team operations.
The Raiders fired Pierce as their coach and Tom Telesco as their general manager following the season. They replaced Telesco with John Spytek and then, after a failed bid to land Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their coach when he chose the Chicago Bears, brought Carroll out of his brief retirement from coaching. And now Brady has made his first major quarterback move with the franchise.
