1 Easy, but Critical Decision on the Raiders' Horizon

The Las Vegas Raiders' offseason is about to get much more interesting, as they will soon begin gutting one of the worst rosters in the National Football League. Las Vegas is equipped with enough draft picks, free cap space, and positions of need to make many significant moves this offseason.

Raiders' Signal-Caller

The Raiders have been doomed by bad quarterback play for much of the past three seasons. Las Vegas is finally poised to adequately address its quarterback position for the first time in a long time. However, doing so will require them to decide on a quarterback who is still on the roster.

Matt Okada of NFL.com believes Smith will likely be cut this offseason, as the Raiders are all but sure to head in a new direction at quarterback. With the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft and a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback there for the Raiders' taking, there is definitely writing on the wall.

"With the No. 1 draft pick in hand and a new regime in place, it’s a near-lock the Raiders will be moving in a new direction at quarterback this offseason. It also didn’t help that Smith finished the 2025 season with 19 touchdowns, a league-high 17 interceptions and 55 sacks, an atrocious 84.7 passer rating and what was undoubtedly some of the worst tape in the league (at least according to my eyes)," Okada said.

"Cutting Smith only results in $8 million in cap savings while sinking $18.5 million in dead money, but unless new head coach Klint Kubiak sees him as a worthy bridge quarterback to presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, any juice would be worth the squeeze in Las Vegas. Pete Carroll is gone and I’d be very surprised if his hand-picked quarterback of the past is not soon to follow.

Raiders General Manager John Spytek noted earlier this offseason that the Raiders' front office was still figuring out Smith's future, as well as that of many others. However, Spytek gave a less-than-encouraging update, considering Las Vegas has the top pick in the draft.

"Yeah, Geno [Smith] is under contract for next year. We did that because when we traded for him, we liked him. I'm not going to get too far into the future right now, I'm day by day, but he's one of the guys that's under contract, he's a quarterback, he played some good football this year, and we'll make those decisions going forward,” Spytek said.

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