Just days before free agency begins, the quarterback carousel lurched forward in a way that almost no one expected Friday. Geno Smith, the longtime backup who became a reliable starter for the Seattle Seahawks under then-head coach Pete Carroll, is headed to the Las Vegas Raiders to reunite with Carroll in exchange for a third-round pick. Suddenly, the Raiders have a quarterback, and the Seahawks are looking for one.
To determine each grade, I evaluate moves based on multiple factors, including on-field impact, salary cap implications, compensation, player value/age and the context of the teams short- and long-term outlooks. How large is the impact of this decision and how sure are we it's a good or bad choice? How does this affect a team's chance to win the Super Bowl, either this season or in the future?
More Smith coverage:
Seven big questions on the Geno Smith trade
Raiders get: QB Geno Smith
Seahawks get: 2025 third-round pick (No. 92 overall)
Raiders: Las Vegas found its next quarterback in a very unexpected place. Pete Carroll, Tom Brady and the Raiders — after missing out on Matthew Stafford, who decided to return to the Rams — elected to forego a free agent market filled with questions and make a deal for Smith, Carroll's old quarterback.
This would have been a shocking thing to write a few years ago, but Smith represents more of a sure thing for the Raiders than any of the other available options. He has a longer track record of success than Sam Darnold, has been better in recent seasons than Russell Wilson or Justin Fields (or even Aaron Rodgers, who also carries baggage that a team resetting its culture might want to avoid). No rookie in this class is considered a sure thing, and the Raiders would have had to
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