Could Sean Smith Be Back With The Raiders Next Season?

The assumption has been for months that 2017 would be the end of the line for Sean Smith in Oakland.

While that still may be the case, the first whispers of a possible encore season for Smith and the Raiders quietly popped up on Sunday afternoon.

While Smith was hardly popular among the fans (on the internet at least), it is noteworthy that his name has never been linked to any of the locker room nonsense that has been reported in recent months.

Beyond that, Smith probably played the best football of his tenure in Oakland during the second half of the 2017 season.

There’s the matter of his legal case that needs to be resolved, but given the Raiders situation at cornerback, Smith might actually make sense if he’s willing to take a pay cut.

Who says no?

twitter: @raidersbeat

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13 thoughts on “Could Sean Smith Be Back With The Raiders Next Season?

  1. How it makes sense in my book….

    1. Pay reduction (no question)
    2. We have almost NO CB depth, especially if TJ Carrie signs elsewhere for more money
    3. What if Conley sucks or is one of those guys who is ALWAYS injured?
    3. He miraculously played much better once that P.O.S. Norton was fired

    1. Agree on all accounts. Releasing Amerson because of his $5.5 million and an injury plagued season just kills me. Yes he was injured. But he played well beyond his means while in Oakland giving us a steal and cap room to sign our OLINE and Carr. He was my favorite player and he is a baller. That’s why teams are LINING UP to sign him. Gruden fucked up letting him go. Especially being the first guy he releases upon coming back to coaching. I love Gruden but you mark my words, Amerson will make Raider nation regret letting him go (unless his injuries continue which anybody who plays football, I’ve been playing for 15 years, injuries can happen to anybody). Not to mention the big kicker, the Raiders had the most pathetic pass rush in the league during Amerson’s tenure. Watch what this guy does on a decent defense.

      1. Wait…You think David Amerson is a baller? WAS a baller is the correct word. In 2015 that is. 2016 he was a liability and this year before he was injured, in 6 games he gave up a PERFECT QB rating. Dude is a bum.

  2. The suspension and potential jail time may not be something the new coaching staff wants to deal with in their first season, even if we get the Smith of the last half of the season and he is properly utilized.

  3. I think that in order for him to stay they would have to find a role for him to thrive in . He struggles covering smaller , faster receivers and I don’t see that changing . You can’t coach speed . He can’t play in the slot and he can’t play on the outside when the Raiders play a team that doesn’t have big outside receivers . My question is , if he stays , where is he going to play ?

  4. He’s worth Keeping at a Reduced Price, and could Play Safety? Crabtree & Cook need to GO 🤔💔🏈☠

    1. Good player when kept safe from burners. If everyone acknowledges his role and adjusts salary accordingly, it is a good signing.

  5. I think smith is worth keeping at a lower cost. Sean did play well once Pagano took over as a matter of fact he was the raiders best corner. I have always said that if you put a player in position to succeed he will ans thats what Pagano did. It’s all about the system and i guarantee the new regime won’t line smith up on the fastest WR.

  6. I understand that Cook had some beefs in the locker room but the guy’s a stud and was our leading receiver. I think Chucky can deal appropriately with the malcontents and get there head back in the game. He has to get through to the O-Line, those guys were so piss poor last, totally underperforming. It’s also time for those second and third year guys to step up or move out. Hoping the draft pans out this year, unfortunately picking DBs usually they are not ready to play for a year or so, except special teams. We just have to keep our heads in the game. Raider Nation Live and Loud!

  7. From my perspective, one being cultivated from constant heart-break, repetitious cycle’s of prolonged losing streaks (which were occasionally broken up by fringe playoff “bubble teams” throughout the early & mid 90’s) and is truly the most humble, & modest of beginnings as a member of “RAIDER-NATION”; this was when my devotion, love, & bountiful unwavering hope, dedication & “commitment to excellence” was truly, honestly and firmly entrenched as my doctrine & ideology of what it exactly took to be a “TRUE-RAIDER-NATION FANATIC”.

    In my early pre-pubescent “tweenage years”, I can recall a fascination with one Raider in particular in the early to mid 90’s: Jeff Hostetler was the player that grabbed me and who is the player by which I began to measure the future potential, glorious possibilities, and is responsible for solidifying my fundamental values to which I have faithfully & obediently succumbed to throughout the past 25 years of being a devoted, proud, and faithfully committed “Silver and Black” Raider fanatic.

    My continued love and unwavering dedication to my beloved Raiders was also forever embedded into my “being” as I began to learn of the many truly elite football players who have suited up in the gloriously beautiful “Silver and Black” uniforms of the early age of the N.F.L. AND what can only be considered the “golden age” for our beloved Raiders Franchise; YES FELLOW RAIDER fans!! I AM RWFERING TO THE AMAZINGLY TALENTED, BRUTALLY POWERFULL AND CONSTANTLY BULLYING, PHYSICALLY IMPOSING & DOMINANT, FERVENTLY ELECTRIFYING Raider teams of the 70’s and INTO the earlier portion of the 80’s as well.

    Now these teams STOOD ABOVE ALL other franchises for so many consecutive years through out the entire 70’s & INTO THE EARLY 80’s & when all else failed, the OAKLAND RAIDERS CREATED A DYNASTY BY UTLIZING MANY CHARACTERISTICS THAT WERE EMBODIED WITHIN SO MANY OF OUR TALENTED ROSTERS BACK THEN–DYNAMIC, DOMINANT, and CHRONICALLY PHYSICALLY IMPOSING PLAY AND THE RAIDERS WERE ALWAYS CONSIDERED TO PLAY ON THE EDGE OF WHAT WAS CONSIDERED “legal, appropriate and acceptable by league standards”; the Raider teams during the 70’s can easily be seen as the Raiders franchise’s “greatest and most memorable decade” which was measured by continuous winning seasons, Super-Bowl titles, Conference Championships, & repeated playoff appearances and successes that forever changed the N.F.L. Measuring stick by which every other N.F.L. Franchise strived to become.

    With all this back story outlined, greatly detailed & the relevance of such a rich history of success that was the fundamental building blocks that created a mystique of greatness, personified by the Raiders owner/G.M., Mr. Al Davis, may he R.I.P. To answer the ever so contentious question of whether or not the Raiders should retain Sean Smith or release him, I FIRMLY BELIEVE that we should offer to retain him, IF AND ONLY IF HE AGREES TO A SUBSTANTIAL PAY-cut to around the neighborhood of approximately 4-5 1/2 million a year, on a 1 year “prove it” Pay as you play contract.

    Pro-Football Focus gave Sean Smith a very good grade for his 1st year of play, and Sean had to endure playing off the ball & off man and in zone, and EVERYBODY WHO KNEW WHAT TYPE OF CORNER HE WAS KNEW THAT SEAN DIDNT POSSESS BLAZING SPEED WHEN HE PLAYED FOR THE CHIEFS, instead he played PRIMARILY TO HIS STRENGTHS WHICH WAS PRESS COVERAGE, where Sean could jam the receiver, delay the W.R.’s route &a release & Sean could use his frame & strength to re-route a W.R.’s route. Furthermore, Sean DID PLAY SUBSTANTIALLY BETTER AS THE YEAR WENT ON, and coincidentally his play picked up when The Raiders fired Defensive Coordinator Ken Norton Jr. from his position and Pagano took over. This is primarily the reason why I believe Sean Smith should be kept if and only if he agrees to restructure his contract. Additionally, our C.B. group is young and not good when factoring in Sean Smiths departure….but this move should NOT BE THE ONLY MOVE THE RAIDERS MAKE, as Fuller from the Bears, Trumaine Johnson from the Rams, and/or Prince Akmukora would all be good fits to our C.B. Rotation as well as drafting another Safety/C.B. In the 2nd or 3rd round as well.

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