Vegas can get out of trouble.
Raiders have an $18.5 million way to cut ties with Geno Smith originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Las Vegas Raiders haven't started this season they way they would've wanted to.
They're now 1-4, and a lot of that has been pinned on new quarterback Geno Smith.
Smith has already thrown nine interceptions, including two in Sunday's brutal 40-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Raiders have been without weapons due to injury for much of the season so far, which hasn't helped. But this isn't the QB they hoped they were getting when they made an offseason trade with the Seattle Seahawks.
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On the surface, the Raiders are a bit stuck, because they signed Smith to a contract extension after the trade.
But ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote Wednesday about how there's really a pretty easy way out:
"What's interesting to me is that the contract Smith signed with the Raiders after the trade doesn't really tie them to him beyond this year. He has an $18.5 million salary guarantee for 2026, after making $40 million this year. If the Raiders cut him after this season, they'd have paid him $58.5 million for one (presumably disappointing) year. That's a lot, but as Jeremy said, this team wants to win soon. If absorbing $18.5 million in dead money next year to move on helps them do that, I doubt it would stand in the Raiders' way."
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It's definitely a fair point and one worth noting. If the cost of moving on to a better quarterback is $18.5 million, that's a price that isn't impossible to fathom the Raiders paying.
Obviously at that point, they'd then have to pay a new QB whatever he was worth, too. But it's not worth lingering on someone who definitely isn't the answer at the most important position in sports.
The Raiders will definitely be looking at a decision at the end of this season if Smith's struggles continue.
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Category: Football
