Has Geno Smith played his final game with the Raiders?

Raiders quarterback Geno Smith did not suffer a high ankle sprain as originally feared during Sunday’s loss to the Giants at Allegiant Stadium.

Nevertheless, coach Pete Carroll did not sound optimistic Monday about Smith’s availability for Sunday’s season finale against the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium.

And it raises the question of whether the 35-year-old has played his final game with the Raiders.

“It’s significant,” Carroll said of Smith’s ankle injury. “We’ll just go day to day and see what’s happening. But it’s going to be hard for him to play, I think.”

If Smith can’t play, Carroll said Kenny Pickett and Aidan O’Connell would compete in practice for the starting job against the Chiefs, who are 6-10 and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014. They will be facing a 2-14 Raiders team that can lock up the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft with a loss.

Pickett replaced Smith against the Giants and finished 2-for-2 for 16 yards. The former Pitt standout was acquired at the end of training camp for a fifth-round pick and has appeared in five games, including a start at Philadelphia in Week 15. He has completed 27 of 41 passes for 185 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

O’Connell, the Raiders’ fourth-round pick out of Purdue in 2023, was expected to be Smith’s backup this season, but suffered a broken wrist in the final preseason game and was placed on injured reserve. The Raiders then traded for Pickett.

O’Connell returned to the active roster in Week 12, but he has been inactive for all but one game while serving as the emergency quarterback.

The Raiders also could use Smith’s absence as a way to get rookie Cam Miller playing time. The seventh-round pick from North Dakota State has been on the practice squad all season.

Final game with Raiders?

If Smith can’t play Sunday, his tenure with the Raiders most likely is over. 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.

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.

There won’t be much of a trade market for Smith, who is signed through the 2027 season. If the Raiders cut him, they will owe him $18.5 million of his $26.5 million salary for 2026. They would save $8 million in cash and salary cap space.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.