Why Geno Smith Makes All Kinds of Sense as a Vikings QB Addition

The most logical, realistic veteran quarterback the Vikings could add this offseason is...the guy who led the NFL in interceptions last year. I know, it sounds absurd on the surface, but hear me out.

Geno Smith is coming off of a nightmare season with the Las Vegas Raiders. There's no way around that. He was 2-13 as a starter, he threw 17 picks, and his 84.7 passer rating ranked 32nd out of 36 QBs with at least 200 attempts, ahead of only Cam Ward, Joe Flacco, one J.J. McCarthy, and Shedeur Sanders.

In making the case for why Smith should be Minnesota's guy, the first thing we're going to do is mostly throw last season out of the window. It's part of Smith's resume, but the context also matters.

The Raiders were a train wreck last season, from top to bottom. Chip Kelly was fired in November and Pete Carroll was fired in January. The Raiders' offensive line was quite possibly the worst in football. The defense was mediocre. Outside of Brock Bowers (who was hurt for a while) and Jakobi Meyers (who was traded midseason), Smith's top targets were Tre Tucker and Michael Mayer.

With all of that considered, it feels fair to give Smith something of a mulligan for 2025. He's not the kind of star quarterback who's going to overcome those circumstances. When he's on a non-awful team, as was the case when Smith was the Seahawks' quarterback from 2022-24, we've seen him be quite good. That's a three-year sample size that is still pretty recent. I'm inclined to believe Smith isn't suddenly washed at 35 years old, but instead was dragged down by the Raiders' dysfunction.

And yes, if you've forgotten, Smith was quite good in Seattle, where he made two Pro Bowls. From 2022-24, 32 NFL quarterbacks threw at least 600 passes. Smith's 95.5 passer rating ranked 14th, just behind Baker Mayfield and Justin Herbert. He was third in completion percentage at 68.5, fourth in passing yards, eighth in passing touchdowns, and in the top three in both fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives.

Full game-winning drive by Geno Smith. One of the best in the game y'all pic.twitter.com/FDgfLvQS5w
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) November 18, 2024

Smith also ranked near the top of the league in interceptions and sacks in that three-year span, which isn't ideal, but that can happen when you have a pretty high average depth of target like he did and aren't afraid to let plays develop downfield. This is a guy who ranked 9th (of 35), 14th (of 39), and 9th (of 40) in PFF grade among QBs with at least 200 attempts in his three Seahawks seasons.

Seattle was 27-22 in Smith's starts despite having the 26th-ranked defense in EPA per play in that three-year span. It's not nearly as simple as saying the Seahawks replaced Smith with Sam Darnold and then suddenly won the Super Bowl. They were near the bottom of the league defensively in Smith's first two seasons and good in 2024 before supporting Darnold with the No. 1 defense in the NFL last year.

Geno Smith in 2024 | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

After a disastrous 2025, the Raiders hold the No. 1 pick and are widely expected to take Indiana's Fernando Mendoza as their next franchise QB. Smith appears likely to be released, and because he has guaranteed money on his contract, he should be available to a team like the Vikings on a veteran's minimum salary.

Smith is a better scheme fit in Minnesota than someone like Kyler Murray, given his ability to make the intermediate throws over the middle of the field that Kevin O'Connell loves. Smith is also an outstanding deep-ball thrower, which would sync up well with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. He's more willing than Murray to stand in the pocket and make throws under pressure instead of bailing out and looking to scramble. The one scheme concern would be that Smith hasn't operated much from under center, but there's no reason to think he's incapable of doing so.

With the Vikings, Smith would have O'Connell coaching him and Jefferson and Addison as his top two targets. He'd be playing behind an offensive line that has a chance to be excellent with some better health this year. And he'd benefit from having one of the very best defenses in the league on his sideline. It would be the perfect situation for a major bounce-back year.

One Vikings QB option I'm pretty intrigued by is Geno Smith.

He was legitimately very good from 2022-24 in Seattle, especially on deep passes. He can hit the intermediate throws over the middle that KOC loves.

The fit might be better than you think.pic.twitter.com/1QucouGb1N
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) February 25, 2026

The other box Smith checks is that signing him wouldn't totally rule out the possibility of McCarthy taking a giant leap in 2026 and earning the starting role. Because of the way Smith's 2025 went, this would be a legitimate competition in training camp, even if the veteran would be the favorite to win it. Smith also doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would make things messy if he didn't win the job.

There's no denying that Smith's time in Vegas was a disaster. But the Vikings don't have a magic wand they can wave to fix their quarterback situation. Of the options that will likely be available to them, Smith might just be the one that best threads the needle of bringing upside to the table while still giving McCarthy a chance.