The Las Vegas Raiders have a new pair of head coach and quarterback, with Pete Carroll now at the helm of the job on the sidelines and Geno Smith as the projected starter under center for the 2025 NFL season — and likely beyond.
Although Smith only has a year left on his current contract, which gives him a base salary of $14.8 million in 2025, at least some expect that the Raiders will keep him longer via an extension. While no such contract has been signed by the 34-year-old quarterback and Las Vegas, Carroll said that “we’re working on it,” (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk).
Added Carroll: “Yeah, we’re working on it. G’s excited to get going, get started. He’ll be here when we get rolling. But we are working on it.”
Carroll is very much familiar with Smith and vice versa. After all, the two worked together during their time with the Seattle Seahawks for four seasons. It was with Carroll and the Seahawks that Smith, who was a second-round pick by the New York Jets in the 2023 NFL draft, got his pro career's second wind.
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In the two seasons as a regular starter in Seattle and under Carroll, Smith earned two Pro Bowl nods, while accumulating 7,906 passing yards and 50 touchdowns against 20 interceptions on a 67.4 percent completion rate from 2022 to 2023. Over the same span, the former West Virginia Mountaineers star signal-caller put together a 17-15-0 quarterback record.
“He’s a great competitor,” Carroll said about Smith, who passed for 4,320 yards and 21 touchdowns against 15 interceptions on a career-best (as a regular starter) 70.4 percent completion rate in 2024 with the Seahawks.
“His conviction to believe in himself is why he is who he is. That’s why he’s stood through all of these challenges. He’s made it through it, and he’s ready to be on top of the world. He can do anything in this game,” Carroll added.
The Raiders are hoping that the duo of Carroll and Smith would key a turnaround for the franchise. Las Vegas has not made it to the NFL playoffs in each of the last three seasons. Moreover, the franchise has also not progressed past the wild-card round since it reached the Super Bowl in 2003 under then-head coach Bill Callahan.
