Breaking news from Ian Rapoport indicates that former West Virginia Quarterback, Geno Smith and the Las Vegas Raiders have agreed on a 2-year, $85.5 million dollar max value extension with $66.5 million guaranteed. This comes after his March 13th, trade from Seattle to Las Vegas for a third-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft in GreenBay, Wisconsin.
Smith struggled early on in his NFL career as he was drafted 39th overall in the 2013 “NFL Draft” by the New York Jets. Smith would last four seasons on the Jets roster before being traded to the New York Giants and then the Chargers in 2018 before finding a home in Seattle in 2020.
Smith had an incredible tenure with the Seattle Seahawks where he not only earned the starting job back, but he got his confidence back. Smith earned the starting job in 2022 where he excelled completing 69.8% of his throws throwing for 4,282 yards and 33 touchdowns leading his Seahawk squad to the Playoffs. These stats compared to his 11 interceptions put him at a 100.9 Quarterback rating, the second highest rating he had ever received over the course of his nine-year NFL career.
From here, Smith had no intentions of heading back to the bench, as in 2023 Smith completed 64.7% of his passes, threw for 3,624 total yards, and 20 touchdowns. Despite his numbers going down from the year prior and missing the playoffs, Smith was not deterred.
In 2024, Geno would show flashes of his 2022 self, as Smith threw for 4,320 yards, his second 4,000 yard season in three years. Smith would tally a 70.4 completion percentage, his highest competition percentage in his NFL career, with 21 touchdowns to show for it.
Smith is now heading into his 12th season in the NFL, and with an exciting new opportunity in a fresh new environment surrounded by new talent, Smith has the opportunity to rattle the NFC and make the Raiders a potential playoff team once again.
