The Las Vegas Raiders have had kind of an odd offseason. They went just 4-13 last season and were widely expected to select a quarterback in the NFL Draft, but instead, they swung a trade for veteran signal-caller Geno Smith.
It’s not that Smith is a bad quarterback by any means. But he isn’t really a star, and he is 34 years old. Heck, he turns 35 in October.
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Not only that, but the Raiders signed Smith to a two-year contract extension that will run him through 2027. The deal features $66.5 million in guaranteed money and could be worth up to $85.5 million.
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport’s outlook for Las Vegas indicates that the Raiders may have made a big mistake with Smith, as he named them one of a handful of teams that should be rebuilding heading into 2025.
“… the trade that brought veteran quarterback Geno Smith to Sin City was indicative of a team that plans to contend immediately. But at the risk of angering Raider Nation, this is a team that is still a year away, especially in an AFC West that put three teams in the playoffs last season,” Davenport wrote.
The Raiders are indeed the worst team in their division on paper, and it’s hard to imagine that playing out a whole lot differently in the actual standings.
Yes, Las Vegas did draft running back Ashton Jeanty, and Brock Bowers might already be the best tight end in football. But the Raiders have a myriad of questions both along their offensive line and at wide receiver, and their defense has some significant holes, as well.
Smith threw for 4,320 yards, 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while completing 70.4 percent of his passes and posting a 93.2 passer rating with the Seattle Seahawks last season. He did make back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances in 2022 and 2023, but he has regressed considerably since his breakout campaign during the previous year.
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Is the former second-round pick a better option than what Las Vegas was trotting out under center last season? Sure, but it’s not exactly like the Raiders have Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow back there. Actually, Smith is probably the worst starting quarterback in the AFC West at this juncture (Bo Nix looked really good in 2024).
Davenport is right: Las Vegas no doubt has a long way to go, and rolling out the serviceable, aging Smith every week will inhibit its chances of landing a top pick to potentially land a quarterback in next year’s NFL Draft.
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