No deal is in place yet to keep quarterback Geno Smith in a Raiders uniform past the upcoming season, but Las Vegas general manager John Spytek said Monday he is confident such a deal will come “fairly soon.”
“We really look forward to having him not just this year, but for the years to come,” Spytek told reporters at the NFL’s annual spring meeting in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Smith, 34, was traded to Las Vegas earlier this month after being unable to come to terms with the Seattle Seahawks on an extension. He has one year and $31 million remaining on a three-year, $75 million deal signed in March 2023.
A full-time starter in Seattle the past three seasons with two Pro Bowl nods, Smith was reunited with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, whom the Raiders hired this offseason. Carroll, 73, was out of coaching last year after mutually agreeing with the Seahawks to step down as head coach. He stayed on as an adviser.
“We’re working on it,” Carroll said of an extension for Smith.
The Raiders are not ruling out taking a quarterback with their nine picks in the upcoming NFL draft, but the acquisition of Smith takes away some of the pressure.
“We could take one anywhere, but I feel like we got a guy that can go play football right now,” Spytek said of Smith. “So, the need and anxiety at that position is not as high as it was a month ago.”
Smith was Carroll’s starting quarterback his final two seasons, piloting the Seahawks to matching 9-8 records after taking over for Russell Wilson, who was traded away before the 2022 season.
That year, his first as a full-time starter in Seattle, was Smith’s most successful, as he threw for 4,282 yards and a career-high 30 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, leading the Seahawks to the playoffs.
The follow-up year netted fewer passing yards (3,624) and touchdowns (20) as Smith missed two games to injury. Last year, under new coach Mike Macdonald, Smith rebounded to throw for 4,320 yards and 21 touchdowns (albeit with 15 interceptions) while leading Seattle to a 10-7 record.
Smith was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round in 2013 after a highly productive college career at West Virginia. He started 29 games over his first two seasons before being relegated to the bench, bouncing to the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers before landing in Seattle in 2019.
Las Vegas was 4-13 under former head coach Antonio Pierce last season. Gardner Minshew II, Aidan O’Connell and Desmond Ridder each started games at quarterback.
