The Las Vegas Raiders made the bold choice to send a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks this offseason for nearly 35-year-old quarterback Geno Smith. On top of that, the team gave him a two-year extension worth up to $75 million, tying him to Las Vegas for the next three years.
After Week 1's elite showing against the New England Patriots on the road in tough conditions, it looked like the Raiders may have gotten a steal this offseason. The next three weeks, however, have been completely disastrous.
Smith went from looking like a quarterback who could take this Las Vegas team to new heights to being the one who is dragging them down and holding them back. Week 4's embarrassing showing against the Chicago Bears is forcing an uncomfortable conversation to happen way too early.
Raiders could have brutal Geno Smith decision on the horizon
In a game where the Raiders' rushing attack finally showed up, the offensive line gave Smith protection, and the defense fought tooth and nail to keep the team in the game, Las Vegas ended up losing 25-24 at home to a 1-2 Bears team.
That's because Smith threw three interceptions. One of them came on a tight-window throw to Jakobi Meyers, where veteran safety Kevin Byard stepped in the way for the pick. Smith clearly learned nothing, as he threw an interception on nearly the same route to the same player later in the half.
To kick off the second half, Smith threw yet another interception while targeting Meyers, this time to Tyrique Stevenson. Smith also had a poor throw to Dont'e Thornton Jr. near the goal line, which fell incomplete. Hitting him in stride would have allowed him to walk in for a score and push the lead to 9 with just a few minutes remaining.
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Unfortunately for the Raiders, they do not exactly have a viable long-term option on the roster. Smith is not playing like a franchise quarterback in any way, shape, or form, Kenny Pickett and Aidan O'Connell are both career backups, and rookie Cam Miller is on the practice squad.
Las Vegas certainly needs to be eyeing a young quarterback at the position in the next two draft classes, as things simply cannot afford to go on like this. The franchise is wasting Maxx Crosby and plenty of other players' primes with such a brutal combination of errors under center.
Raider Nation does not want to already be having the conversation about benching Geno Smith after Week 4, but here we are. Almost any other quarterback in the league could have won under today's circumstances, but Las Vegas fell short because of Smith's shortcomings.