Geno Smith was not available, until he was. So the Las Vegas Raiders pretty easily gave up their extra third-round pick this year to acquire him from the Seattle Seahawks to secure an upgrade and stability under center.
Entering the final year of his contract, it seemed sure the Raiders would have a contract extension done with Smith before a $16 million roster bonus was due on March 16. But that date has come and gone, inviting some light speculation about why an extension isn't done yet, since an impasse on a contract extension is what reportedly led to the Seahawks reversing course and trading him.
Smith's age (34, 35 in October) automatically puts the Raiders in the mix to draft a quarterback late next month, with all options on the table. The length of Smith's contract extension is a level of a question, but two years beyond this year seems like the sweet spot. And there should not be too much concern about a deal not being done.
Raiders GM John Spytek cites unique opportunity to acquire Geno Smith
As they looked to make changes to the depth chart, the Raiders clearly weren't enthralled with the free agent options at quarterback. They pursued Matthew Stafford to the extent they could, but he was never truly available. They had a unique connection to Smith via Pete Carroll, and when Carroll left the Seahawks it didn't appear to be because of a bad relationship with general manager John Schneider.
Raiders general manager John Spytek appeared on the team's in-house "Upon Further Review" podcast this week, and the acquisition of Smith was an automatic topic.
"As we got into it and we evaluated the options in free agency, the other players that maybe were available via trade, ultimately we arrived at a spot where we thought adding Geno made a lot of sense for us," Spytek said. "It upgraded the position in our opinion. The compensation from a draft capital standpoint wasn't so costly. I mean, I love my picks more than anybody and I gotta remind coach Carroll how much I love picks. But listen, we used a late third-round pick to hopefully have our starting quarterback here for years to come. And it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up."
Spytek spoke about Smith's skills as a passer, but Carroll's insight seemed to be (however obviously) the tipping point for making the trade.
"And when you have Coach Carroll in your camp and he can swear by the player, the competitor, the worker, the leader", Spytek said. "That’s a front-row seat, or that’s information that if I was still with the Bucs, for instance, we wouldn’t have.”
Of course the Raiders can show how much they believe in Smith by giving him the contract the Seahawks wouldn't, and not taking Shedeur Sanders (if he's available) with the sixth overall pick in the draft.
The in-house media operation didn't press Spytek about where contract talks are with Smith, but the window of time between the peak of free agency and the draft (aka, right now) feels like the time to get it done.