Rumored to be still looking into trades after the Matthew Stafford push failed, the Raiders have found a solution. Pete Carroll will be reuniting with a QB — just not via free agency.
Rather than a Russell Wilson signing, the Raiders are trading for Geno Smith, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. The Raiders will send the Seahawks a 2025 third-rounder for Smith, Seattle’s former Wilson backup-turned-three-year starter. Suddenly, it is the Seahawks who need a quarterback.
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While we mentioned Smith as a prospective solution minutes ago, it is still fairly stunning the Seahawks are parting with a proven starter. One season remains on Smith’s three-year, $75MM contract. This trade will almost definitely bring a Smith extension, as the Raiders were on the cusp of giving Stafford a monster guarantee package.
Smith is not in Stafford’s skill class, but he is two years younger. Going into his age-35 season, Smith likely has secured another starter year without the threat of an immediate QB heir apparent coming in. Indeed, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports Smith is likely to land a new deal in Vegas; he has been seeking a contract between $40-$45MM per year. The Seahawks came in at around $35MM per year, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets. Smith entered the offseason as the NFL’s 19th-highest-paid QB, with no one really around his $25MM AAV.
The 2022 Comeback Player of the Year, Smith is due a $14.8MM base salary in 2025. That money is not guaranteed, but again, it would be quite surprising if the 12th-year veteran were still attached to that deal by Week 1. This represents a major swing by a Raiders team that has shuffled through QBs since benching Derek Carr in December 2022. Smith is one year older than Carr, but he has displayed durability since replacing Wilson in Seattle.
Smith stunned the football-following world by being far more than a mediocre Wilson successor, rising from longtime backup — a player who had drawn low-end salaries from the Seahawks for four years — to the NFL’s completion percentage leader. Smith broke Wilson’s single-season Seahawks passing yardage record in 2022, also throwing 30 TD passes, and then re-broke it this past season. He finished with 4,320 passing yards last season, though the 15 interceptions brought concerns for the Seahawks, who had passed on acquiring an heir apparent for multiple offseasons. Smith ranked just 21st in QBR last season, after coming in at seventh (2022) and 14th (2023) in his other Seattle starter years.
Talks had begun between Smith and the Seahawks, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates the sides did not make much progress. This will end a six-season partnership, one that brought three winning seasons — including a 10-7 2024 season — and a playoff berth with Smith at the wheel. The Seahawks are now exploring a Sam Darnold addition, providing a tremendous shakeup to the QB market days before free agency. Smith had pushed for an extension in 2024, but the Seahawks did not greenlight one.
Seattle’s shocking Smith trade comes after John Schneider had said there was no doubt the QB would remain at the controls in 2025. The deal also comes two days after D.K. Metcalf requested a trade. The Seahawks, who cut Tyler Lockett minutes before the Metcalf news surfaced, are making wholesale changes after back-to-back playoff misses. Seattle had not previously missed two straight postseasons since the 2008-09 seasons — before Carroll and Schneider arrived.
Metcalf is believed to be targeting a deal to a warmer-weather team, with Russini indicating during a radio interview with Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. that the standout receiver also wants more QB stability. Metcalf has since seen the Seahawks deal a proven starter, as the team joins a handful of clubs in pursuit of a free agent. Effectively, the Raiders and Seahawks have swapped places. This is a long time coming for the Raiders, who have come off back-to-back seasons featuring struggles staffing the position.
The Raiders cut Carr and signed Jimmy Garoppolo. After Garoppolo became a post-June 1 release — following another injury-plagued season that involved a midyear benching — the team gave Gardner Minshew a two-year, $25MM deal. Also benched, Minshew sustained a season-ending injury and will follow Garoppolo in being a post-June 1 cut. Aidan O’Connell remains on the roster, but he no longer has a realistic path to the starting job. This will at least buy the Raiders time, as they could now — barring a renewed Cam Ward trade-up effort — wait for a better offseason to strike. This has widely been viewed as an unspectacular QB draft class.
Las Vegas picked up an extra third-rounder via the Davante Adams trade, closing the book on the wide receiver’s two-plus years with the team. The Raiders carried more than $80MM in cap space entering Friday; some of that figures to go to Smith’s extension, but the team will have necessary funds to improve around him, after a 4-13 season cost Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco their jobs. In stepped Tom Brady, who has been a central presence in the Raiders’ QB pursuit.
Carroll is on a three-year contract, coming in as a hopeful culture-resetting presence after tumult consumed the Raiders following Jon Gruden‘s forced resignation. Carroll had stumped for Smith during the months between the Wilson blockbuster and the 2022 season, and Smith beat trade pickup Drew Lock for the starting job. He was unchallenged for the position in 2023 and ’24, but Mike Macdonald and new OC Klint Kubiak will be working with a new passer in 2025. Kubiak had said Smith was a “huge draw” to bring him to Seattle; Smith will now get to work in Chip Kelly‘s offense.