Geno Smith already winning over Raiders locker room

Despite happening in the early days of the offseason, the trade that sent quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in March is by far their most important move.

Since releasing Derek Carr during the 2023 offseason, the Raiders have had to wade through the muck at the quarterback position. High-profile free agent signings such as Jimmy Garoppolo and Gardner Minshew flopped, and 2023 fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell is more of a spot starter. With Smith now joining the fold, the Raiders now hope that their quarterback play elevates them to the next level instead of holding them back.

So far, it sounds as though Smith is making believers out of his new teammates.

Raiders veterans have been impressed by Smith during the offseason program.

When running back Raheem Mostert signed with the Raiders, he described his first interaction with Smith during his media availability at minicamp.

“Yeah, first and foremost, man, I would have to say Geno is a top tier pro. You know, when he first heard the news that I was getting signed to the Raiders, he immediately – I was on the phone call with Chip [Kelly] and the running backs coach (Deland McCullough) — and I get a text from a strange number, and it’s just saying, ‘Hey, this is Geno. I’m super excited to have you, man. We’re super excited to have you. And let’s get wins. Let’s get ready to work,’ Mostert said.

“That just tells you the type of player that he is and wants to be, right. That right there in itself, for a guy that can reach out to so many other people and he could be a busy guy, to reach out to me the way he did in that moment, I hadn’t even officially signed, makes it reassuring that he’s definitely on track to be something great and also this team.”

One of Smith’s new weapons in wide receiver Jakobi Meyers was also impressed by the quarterback during OTAs.

“He’s a vet-vet, honestly. I truly mean that, and I feel like this is the first time where I’ve had in a minute. I had Tom [Brady] for a year, that was a cool experience. But by having Geno [Smith], it kind of brings a sense of stability, if that makes sense. Like I said, he knows what he’s doing. He shows up the same every day, his personality stays the same every day. I haven’t seen him have a bad day yet. So, I mean, I can’t have bad days if the leader has no bad days,” Meyers said.

If that chemistry carries over to the field on game days, Smith should have the Raiders in excellent hands.