Rumors are swirling that the Las Vegas Raiders are in the market to trade for a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback who won Comeback Player of the Year in 2022.
Raiders’ Quarterback Room Could Add New Name
The Raiders have been unstable at the quarterback position since releasing Derek Carr in February 2023. During his time with the Raiders, Carr was as consistent as they come. He missed only four starts in his nine seasons with the franchise and threw for at least 3,200 yards each of the nine years.
After a failed stint with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O’Connell took over for Garoppolo midway through 2023 and put up respectable numbers, outperforming his predecessor in almost every statistical category.
In 2024, the Raiders turned to free agent Gardner Minshew II to compete with O’Connell for the starting job after a standout 2025 season. Minshew won the Raiders’ starting job to begin the 2024 season but was benched and missed the remaining six games due to a broken collarbone.
Minshew is under contract with the Raiders for 2025 with a cap hit of $13.8 million and will become a free agent in 2026. If Las Vegas decides to release Minshew, it’d take on $10.8 million in dead cap. If the Raiders trade Minshew, that dead cap number lowers to only $4.5 million. Seeing as they have the second-most cap space in the NFL, trading or releasing Minshew isn’t a necessity but not off the table.
In his article about bold predictions for NFL players on the trading block, Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News suggests the Raiders look to the Pacific Northwest for their answer at the position:
“The Seahawks need to turn the page at QB soon as they undergo a second offensive transition in as many seasons, this time from Ryan Grubb to Klint Kubiak. [Geno] Smith got the job done in multiple seasons post-Russell Wilson’s fall, but now it would make sense to move him to former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
“The other intriguing aspect is the fact that Smith was once under the purview of new Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, so he can definitely handle his system well.”
The Geno Smith Connection: Why Would Seattle Want This Trade?
The stars are aligning for Smith to reunite with Carroll and Kelly. Both Carroll and Kelly have firsthand knowledge of Smith’s capabilities, and that level of familiarity goes a long way when ushering in a new regime and making the transition as seamless as possible.
For one, Seattle is almost $10 million over the allotted salary cap. Smith has the biggest cap hit at $44.5 million and is set to be a free agent in 2026. Trading Smith would result in a dead cap hit of $13.5 million, a far more tolerable loss than trading DK Metcalf or even Tyler Lockett.
Sure, the team could cut ties with a handful of other players like Dre’Mont Jones, tight end Noah Fant, safety Rayshawn Jenkins, corner Riq Woolen, tackle George Fant, or punter Michael Dickson, but it appears Smith doesn’t fit with head coach Mike Macdonald’s strategy.
Even though Seattle’s passing offense was seventh in passing attempts and eighth in passing yards, Seahawks quarterbacks were also 20th in touchdowns and 25th in interceptions.
The Raiders have the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. With little to no space under the salary cap, could the Seahawks off-load a healthy portion of Smith’s hefty contract and nab that sixth overall pick from Las Vegas in exchange for Smith?
Potential Impact in Las Vegas
Smith is as good of a fit as Raiders fans could hope for and provides an immediate upgrade to the offense. The timeline to bond and formulate chemistry is shortened, so there’s less of a chance of burning wins to get in a groove.
Having a veteran presence like Smith could give the franchise a more comfortable runway to a future franchise quarterback, especially if the team holds on to the sixth overall pick and drafts Shedeur Sanders.
