New team, new challenge: Geno Smith ready to prove himself with Raiders
It’s not as if Geno Smith is starting all over.
The Raiders’ new quarterback established himself as one of the NFL’s top 10 to 12 quarterbacks the past three years, and none of that changes now that he’s in Las Vegas.
But a new team and new city mean a new challenge for the 34-year-old. To establish himself as one of the leaders and show teammates he can be counted on.
“Every day is about proving yourself,” Smith said Wednesday after concluding his first training camp practice with the Raiders. “In this league, every day you’ve got to prove yourself. Not only to your guys, but to the rest of the league and to yourself.”
That process began soon after Smith was traded to the Raiders in March. Not long after, he was with his teammates throughout offseason workouts and minicamp, establishing himself as a core leader under new coach Pete Carroll, for whom he played four years with the Seattle Seahawks.
“When you come to a new team, you’ve got to set the standard, set the example,” Smith said. “It’s through hard work. So I wanted to make sure that my guys know that I was going to be here 100 percent of the time. I was going to put all the work in. I’m going to maximize our resources and really put our best foot forward.”
That was among the primary reasons Carroll insisted on bringing Smith to Las Vegas. The Raiders acquired him from Seattle for a 2025 third-round pick, then extended his contract by two years and $75 million. He’s under contract through the 2027 season for $106 million, with $66.5 million guaranteed.
It’s a steep price, to be sure. But between the level of play Smith provides and his role in delivering Carroll’s message to the team, the Raiders consider it money well spent.
“He’s a facilitator in that regard,” Carroll said of Smith’s leadership. “He’s been with us, and he’s such an all-in guy that there’s no questioning what his commitment is and his conviction, and so that just helps the message embedded even more so. It’s why he’s so valuable to us.”
That continued on the first day of camp.
“I thought guys were flying around,” Smith said. “I thought it was a really good day.”
It starts at quarterback
The Raiders made massive changes this offseason, replacing Antonio Pierce with Carroll and general manager Tom Telesco with John Spytek. They retooled their defense, drafted a handful of offensive weapons, including dynamic Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, and landed respected offensive coordinator Chip Kelly by making him the highest-paid assistant coach in the NFL.
But unless they upgraded a quarterback room that ranked among the league’s worst in most pertinent categories, their 4-13 record last season would be hard to improve on.
“The reality in football, if you want to win, you got to have a quarterback,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said. “Let’s be real.”
Smith’s addition does not guarantee improvement, especially in a rugged AFC West that sent three teams to the postseason. But as he showed the past three years in Seattle, when he was the sixth-winningest starting quarterback in the NFL, Smith gives his team a legitimate chance every time he takes the field.
That represents a significant change for the Raiders, who have produced just one winning season since moving to Las Vegas and two in the past 22 years. The past three seasons have been particularly painful, and it’s directly attributable to the fall of Derek Carr in 2022 and the failed experiments of Jimmy Garoppolo in 2023 and Gardner Minshew in 2024.
If Smith replicates what he’s done the past three seasons, the floor of the quarterback room rises significantly.
“Geno’s a hell of a quarterback,” said Crosby, who shares the same agency as Smith and was privy to inside information that the Raiders were on the verge of trading for him.
“I kind of knew what was going on, a little insider stuff at the time. And I was like, this would be crazy if it happened.”
Working with Smith the past few months has only strengthened that belief.
“He can make every single throw,” Crosby said.
Getting playmakers the ball
In his three seasons as the Seahawks’ starter, Smith completed 68.4 percent of his 1,649 throws. Above all else, he prides himself on being an accurate thrower.
“For me, it’s always completions completions, completions,” Smith said.
On a team that features star tight end Brock Bowers and receivers Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker and rookies Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton, consistently getting the ball in their hands will be key.
The first day of camp had its share of highs and lows, but the more Smith works in Kelly’s offense, the more he believes in Kelly’s ability to create favorable matchups.
“He’s putting the guys in positions to make plays, and you can see it out there from day one,” Smith said. “The guys are touching the ball and getting in open space.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
