Why Pete Carroll Believes Geno Smith Will ‘Rebound’ With the Jets

On Tuesday, the Raiders traded quarterback Geno Smith to the Jets for a late-round pick swap, sending Smith for a second stint in New York after he began his career there in 2013.

Smith returns to New York after a disastrous season with the Raiders. Las Vegas traded a third-round pick to acquire Smith from the Seahawks and reunite him with then-head coach Pete Carroll, but the move wasn’t enough to help the Raiders. The Raiders ended the season with the No. 1 pick in the draft, Smith led the league in interceptions and Carroll was fired after just one season. Meanwhile, the Seahawks signed Sam Darnold and went on to win the Super Bowl.

More: Geno Smith Trade Grades: Tough to Tell What the Jets Are Thinking

Though Smith struggled—along with the rest of the Raiders—last season, Carroll believes that he will surprise people in his second run with the Jets.

"He's a phenomenal quarterback, he really is," Carroll said in an interview with ESPN’s Rich Cimini. "He had a fantastic offseason and preseason with us, and he comes out in the first game, has a great first game. It was all fitting. It was exactly the right time for us. Then we just faltered and faltered. We didn't do well enough, coaching.

"We should've had him better prepared for the things that happened, and that wouldn't have happened," he continued. "I take a lot of responsibility in that. We didn't prepare him well enough in the offseason even though he looked great and we felt we had everything lined up. It was very, very disappointing for us both."

Carroll took the fall for Smith’s woes in 2025, acknowledging that they did not coach well enough and should have upgraded the roster more than they did.

"We didn't go for it in the offseason. We needed to buy a new line to give the guys a chance to at least be more competitive,” Carroll said to Cimini. “The only reason you get sacked that much is because you try to throw it too much. The whole thing didn't quite work out and that's why you saw a change and all that."

While Carroll acknowledged he “chuckled” at first when he heard Smith was returning to the Jets because of his history with the team, he remains supportive of Smith as he heads to a familiar destination.

"If he figured out [New York] was a good place for him and he wanted to do it, and he was part of the decision, then I couldn't support him more," Carroll said to Cimini. "If he saw the reasoning and felt the support and the opportunity, I couldn't be in more favor of it. I love the guy and want the very best for him. He deserves it. He worked really hard to get where he is."

In New York, Smith joins a Jets squad with a better offensive line that PFF ranked 15th in pass blocking in 2025. He’ll get to play alongside running back Breece Hall and wideout Garrett Wilson, as the Jets look to return to competency both on offense and defense. The Jets have spent the first days of free agency re-tooling their defense by signing and trading for veterans including Demario Davis, Joseph Ossai, David Onyemata, Kingsley Enagbare, Dane Belton, Nahshon Wright and Minkah Fitzpatrick. With a better roster on both sides of the ball, Smith will have a shot to play closer to the level he did during his tenure in Seattle.

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