Despite the vague idea that they could keep him as a veteran mentor for presumed No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, Geno Smith's days as a Las Vegas Raider were all but over. The only thing to be determined was how it was done, via an outright release or a trade.
Apparently amid fear that he could land somewhere else if the new league year started and the Raiders simply released him, the New York Jets worked out a trade to bring Smith back to the franchise that drafted him.
The Raiders will also send a 2026 seventh-round pick to New York, and they'll get a 2026 sixth-round pick in return. Releasing Smith would've left the Raiders with an $18.5 million dead money hit, with $8 million in new cap space.
They are, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, paying the bulk of Smith's money as part of the trade, leaving a $16.2 million dead money hit instead (according to Over The Cap) with $9.3 million in new cap space (according to Spotrac).
The Raiders will also move up 20 spots on Day 3 of April's draft.
Geno Smith trade grade vastly undervalues the Raiders' side of the move
Amid their grades of the moves from Day 2 of NFL free agency, Bleacher Report, of course, graded each side of the Smith trade.
The Raiders got a C+.
"For the Raiders, there's not a whole lot to see here. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Raiders had planned to release Smith if they didn't find a trade partner. It turns out that they did."
"Even if Las Vegas didn't get a strong return for its one-year starter, it managed to get something back rather than releasing Smith outright. The Raiders will now focus on the draft and presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza."
Getting anything for Smith, even just a late-round draft pick swap or upgrade, is a win for the Raiders. They also managed to mitigate some of the financial pain attached to moving on from him. How is that not a major victory?
The Jets somehow got a "B" for aquiring Smith, on the premise that he's a capable bridge starter while they try to cultivate their next quarterback. But again, they were apparently fearful another team would sign Smith if it got to a point where the Raiders released him at the dawn of the league year.
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While it's true they aren't going to pay him much, they also didn't think they'd be sufficiently appealing to Smith to where he would, you know, choose them on his own over other potential free agent suitors.
That says everything about them, and the lack of other options they feel they had to add a veteran quarterback. By all accounts, the Jets were sufficiently desperate to have Smith atop their list of veteran quarterback options.
Then, instead of waiting for him to be released and entering a competition for his services they would surely lose, they were coaxed into giving something up to ensure they got him. That sounds like a loss to me.
But sure, the Raiders deserve a barely above-average grade for offloading Smith. And the Jets, they surely earned a mark nearly a whole grade point higher simply based on not taking on excessive money.