The Las Vegas Raiders have a Geno Smith problem, and as of a few weeks ago this particular quarterback issue looked virtually unsolvable. Everyone knows the Raiders are going to draft Smith’s replacement, Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza, next month, which makes Smith’s guaranteed money of at least $18 million next year a considerable financial albatross.
Or maybe not. According to Connor Byrne of ProFootballRumors.com, the Minnesota Vikings could be interested in acquiring Smith to create what Byrne referred to as “credible competition” for their young quarterback, J.J. McCarthy.
This is a somewhat amazing development, but it’s also typical of what happens when teams draft a quarterback in the top of the first round that doesn’t pan out. McCarthy has had an up-and-down career since coming out of Michigan, mostly due to injuries, but even when he’s been healthy there have been times when McCarthy doesn’t look like anything more than a fair-to-middling NFL starter.
The Raiders would probably provide a limo to the airport if the Vikings made any kind of deal. New coach Klint Kubiak has made some positive comments about Smith recently, saying he’s “definitely one of those options we’re considering” as a starter.
This is also Kubiak code for this is really the last thing I want to do, but I know I can't win right away with a rookie quarterback. But apparently it was enough to generate interest from the Vikings, who are still wiping the egg off their faces after watching their former quarterback, Sam Darnold, win a Super Bowl for the Seattle Seahawks with Kubiak as his coordinator.
If there is a trade, look for it to happen in the next week or so. The new league year starts on March 11, and the salary cap for 2026 is already in place at just over $300 million. It’s highly unlikely the Raiders would get any draft capital for Smith, and they might have to take on one of the Vikings’ bad contracts to get it done, or they could agree to eat some (or most?) of Smith’s money.
If the trade doesn’t happen, the path forward for the Raiders is clear. Smith has another $8 million in injury guarantee money coming due next week, and according to Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post, the Raiders will release him. That would end the ugly Geno Smith saga, which started offseason when the Raiders sent a third-round pick to Seattle and promptly gave him a two-year, $75 million extension that’s now coming back to haunt them.