The Las Vegas Raiders have been pretty quiet in free agency and the biggest move they have made happened a few days before players could be signed. However, that was a massive move.
The trade for quarterback Geno Smith is one of the biggest of the NFL offseason. It's rare that a Pro Bowl-level quarterback is traded at all, let alone for a third-round pick.
While much of Raider Nation seems lukewarm on Smith, to say he's not a major upgrade over what the team had last season is patently absurd. Las Vegas went from having easily the worst quarterback room in the NFL last season to at least having a top-15 one.
That's a major upgrade by any metric. Even insiders around the NFL are high on what the Raiders were doing.
Jacob Robinson and Dianna Russini of The Athletic went through and detailed which teams are on the rise and which teams are on the decline. They think the Raiders improved markedly this offseason.
"They added Geno Smith, who is a better quarterback than most think, and culture-setting coach Pete Carroll, but lost several key defensive pieces," Robinson and Russini wrote. "Still, imposing pass rushers DE Maxx Crosby, DT Christian Wilkins and DE Malcolm Koonce will help Carroll’s Raiders compete immediately. This offseason, no other team improved as dramatically."
The Raiders lose a number of key defensive players but there's also still the draft. Plus, new head coach Pete Carroll has proven to be very good with defensive backs.
The Raiders don't have the most stacked roster in the NFL but the defensive line can be elite and they now have a capable starting quarterback. If the team can find a WR1 and a CB1, there's a chance they can be very good in 2025. At the very least, the Raiders are headed in the right direction.