The Geno Smith experiment hasn’t worked out well for the Raiders, and while it once seemed likely that he would remain with the team for at least two years, it sounds like a long shot now that Smith will be wearing Silver & Black in 2026.
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore on Tuesday, enough has gone wrong between Smith and the Raiders this year to believe the team will absorb his contract and move on after the season…
“If Smith can’t play Sunday, his tenure with the Raiders most likely is over,” Bonsignore said.
“The former West Virginia standout was acquired during the offseason from Seattle, where he re-established himself as a starter playing under Carroll from 2020 to 2023. Carroll fought to bring Smith to Las Vegas, believing he would stabilize the quarterback position and raise the club’s floor in his first season as coach,” Bonsignore continued.
“But a combination of Smith’s poor play, a bad offensive line and injuries to key players sabotaged all that. Smith has slumped to his worst passer and quarterback ratings in four years while throwing a league-high 17 interceptions. He also has been sacked a league-high 51 times.”
“Just as damaging is his relationship with Raiders fans, which has suffered because of his ineffective play and an incident at Allegiant Stadium when he made an obscene gesture to them as he was leaving the field. All that has cast serious doubt on his future with the Raiders, especially if they are in position to select a quarterback with their first pick.”
Five weeks ago, Bonsignore said he was leaning toward the probability that Smith would return to the Raiders in 2026, but it seems he has enough information now to believe that is no longer the case.
For what it’s worth, Bonsignore isn’t the only media personality around the team saying it’s most likely over for Smith in Las Vegas.
“I think that Geno Smith, that experience is over,” Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers said this week on the Locked on Raiders podcast.
“I really don’t see a scenario where he comes back next year. I know he’s 18 and a half million as far as dead cap goes. That’s fine. He’s another 8 million if he’s on the roster,” Myers continued, adding that he doesn’t think Geno would be enthusiastic about taking on a backup role in Las Vegas.
“I just think that the Raiders are going to cut bait. That relationship did not go the way it was expected. And remember, Aiden O’Connell still has another year left on his deal. So even if you go and get a Mendoza, if you go get them more, you can still have Aiden O’Connell be that bridge quarterback.”
“I don’t think that that’s something Geno Smith has any interest in being, a bridge quarterback. I honestly believe that’s the reason why the Raiders didn’t draft a quarterback early in this past draft is because, one, they had their eyes on Ashton Jeanty, but they also wanted Geno to have the opportunity to be the guy and this be his team, at least for the 2025 season, but it really didn’t work out very well.”
x: @raidersbeat
When you have an Over the Hill Snake Oil Salesman who is a Fraud and a, at best, Average Journeyman QB… What could go wrong?
I can see him being one n done, but only if Carroll is gone. U can bet that Carroll will try and keep him around and that may not be a bad idea since he’s worth $18+M in dead cap money. Let him hang around another year to keep from throwing in the rookie QB too early.
I think Carroll tied his fate to Geno, and that commitment has cost Pete his chance to to coach in the NFL. There just isn’t any reason to bring either one back. Smith has a dismal attitude, inability to make quick decisions, and a poor skill set, not someone we need around a developing roster. Pete is lost in the numbers game, his age, and his reliance on veteran washed up talent. Not good for the roster we need to be putting together.
Aiden O’Connell is not the bridge gap qb. Cam Miller is better than O’Connell. He out played him in the preseason. I would keep O’Connell as an extra arm in the preseason, if not see about trading him for a 5th or 6th rd pick. Or when the season starts place him on the practice squad.