After an impressive resurgence with the Seattle Seahawks, Geno Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick.
Raiders minority owner Tom Brady and head coach Pete Carroll entered the offseason determined to stabilize the quarterback position, and Smith now steps in to replace the revolving door of 2024 starters, Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew II, and Desmond Ridder. Having previously played for Carroll in Seattle, Smith now reunites with the veteran head coach in Las Vegas.
So, how much will Smith make in 2025 with the Raiders, and what does his contract look like moving forward?
Geno Smith’s Salary and Contract
Smith signed a three-year contract worth up to $105 million with Seattle during the offseason after his breakout 2022 campaign.
That season, the journeyman quarterback completed 69.8% of his pass attempts for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while also running for 366 yards and one score. Smith earned Comeback Player of the Year honors as a result after never fully finding his footing across his first seven NFL seasons.
The Seahawks rewarded that production with an incentive-laden contract that included $75 million in base value, led by $27.3 million fully guaranteed at signing.
Many of Smith’s incentives include roster bonuses, which pay out on specific dates if certain milestones were met the previous season and Smith remains on the team’s roster.
Those are different from performance incentives, which are guaranteed the moment a player surpasses a stipulated milestone. In Smith’s case, this means he will have to surpass certain milestones and remain on the roster by the time the payout date arrives.
Now, the Raiders will inherit Smith’s contract, which will count against the cap for $44.5 million in 2025. Smith is expected to sign a new contract with Las Vegas that will pay him $40-45 million per year, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
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If he gets $45 million per year, that would tie him with Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins for the 12th-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, in terms of average annual value.
The highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL are Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott ($60 million), Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow ($55 million), Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love ($55 million), Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence ($55 million), Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa ($53.1 million), San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy ($53 million) and Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff ($53 million).
During the 2024 season, Smith was the NFL’s 15th-ranked quarterback in the league according to PFSN’s QB+ metric. He ranked 21st in EPA/DB (0.03), 20th on third downs (37.4%), and 14th in nYPA (6.9). Smith essentially matched his 2022 level of play, yet the Seahawks failed to make the playoffs.
Smith averaged 0.03 EPA per dropback in 2024, which ranked 21st in the NFL. While that sounds underwhelming, the Raiders’ QBs have averaged -0.05 EPA per dropback the last two seasons since they traded away Derek Carr.
Smith ranked between 10th and 18th in QB+ in each of his three seasons as the Seahawks’ starter. His biggest strength was that he performed very well when protected, ranking seventh in passer rating (107.4) when kept clean since 2022.
Smith started in 2022 and 2023 with Carroll as his head coach. In those seasons, Smith ranked fourth in completion percentage (67.4%), sixth in passing TD (50), and sixth in passing yards (7,906).
Smith benefitted from a loaded supporting cast in Seattle. However, he hasn’t looked good so far in Las Vegas in the offense, which is mainly built around tight end Brock Bowers.
In nine games with the Raiders, Smith has thrown for 1,844 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, while completing 66.7% of his throws. According to PFSN’s QB Impact metric, he is currently the 24th-ranked quarterback in the league.
Las Vegas Raiders’ Insights for Week 11
Team:Â Las Vegas has scored nine points or fewer four times in nine games.
QB:Â Geno Smith had his best QBi grade (84.3, B) of the season in Week 9 against the Jaguars. In week 10 against the Broncos, he had his second-worst.
Offense:Â The Raiders have committed at least one turnover in eight of nine games. They have 14 turnovers on the season.
Defense: The Raiders’ 69.8 DEFi is the second-lowest score by a team with Pete Carroll as head coach over his last 15 seasons.
Fantasy: The Raiders have played three teams that rank in the bottom 10 at defending the run. In those games, Ashton Jeanty is averaging 18.8 PPG. The Cowboys will make it four in a row this week.
