HENDERSON, Nev. — Early on the morning of Jan. 24, the news leaked that the Las Vegas Raiders were hiring Pete Carroll as their head coach. Shortly thereafter, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith posted a since-deleted picture of him and Carroll from their time together in Seattle on Instagram. It appeared to be a congratulatory message to the former Seahawks coach who’d helped revive Smith’s career during their five seasons together.

Smith was far from the only Seahawks player coached by Carroll during his 14 seasons in Seattle to publicly commend him for his new job. But it was hard not to wonder whether it was foreshadowing given the meteor-sized hole the Raiders had at quarterback headed into the offseason.

Turns out, it was.

On Friday, the Raiders agreed to trade a 2025 third-round pick to the Seahawks for Smith, according to league sources. Smith will technically compete for the starting quarterback job with Aidan O’Connell, but he’ll almost certainly be the Raiders’ QB1 in 2025.

The Raiders traded the third-round pick they acquired from the New York Jets in the Davante Adams trade this past season. That means Las Vegas still has its own third-round selection, pick No. 68. They also hold the sixth pick in the first round and No. 37 in the second round.

It was right there! https://t.co/OasJ2XewbP

— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) March 8, 2025

Smith is heading into the final season of a three-year extension he signed with the Seahawks in 2023. None of his $14.8 million base salary in 2025 is guaranteed, and he’ll assuredly want a new deal before suiting up for the Raiders.

According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Smith is looking to make between $40 million and $45 million per year. That’s a hefty price to pay, but the Raiders have the resources to get it done as they have over $80.8 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap.

That’s a big commitment, but it was one that the Raiders decided they were willing to make earlier this week. After striking out in their effort to trade for Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford last week, minority owner Tom Brady, Carroll, general manager John Spytek, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and quarterback coach Greg Olson held meetings at team headquarters in Henderson, Nev., to chart the path forward at quarterback, according to league sources.

After those meetings, the Raiders came to a consensus that Smith was the best veteran quarterback available this offseason. Why was Las Vegas so set on acquiring a veteran quarterback? Coming out of the NFL Scouting Combine last week, several members of the Raiders’ offensive coaching staff preferred adding a proven veteran to taking a dice roll on a rookie quarterback, according to league sources.

With that being said, the Raiders’ acquisition of Smith doesn’t eliminate the possibility of them taking a quarterback in the 2025 draft. They’re still considering a quarterback as early as the first round, according to league sources.

After all, the Raiders knew they were aiming to add a veteran quarterback last week and still met with prospects at the combine, including Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart. According to league sources, the Raiders came away particularly impressed with Milroe and Ewers after going over X’s and O’s and film. Other quarterbacks could impress as well during pro day workouts and top-30 visits.

Although the Raiders think highly of Smith, he’ll turn 35 in October. Quarterbacks are playing longer than ever, but he isn’t likely to be the long-term solution.

If the Raiders are sold on a rookie quarterback by the time the draft rolls around, they should take him. A similar situation played out last offseason when the Atlanta Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract before drafting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick the following month. The Raiders are hoping for much better results out of Smith than the Falcons got out of Cousins, but that process is one that they’re open to replicating.

And if it doesn’t line up that way, the Raiders will be OK with rolling into 2025 with O’Connell as their backup quarterback, according to league sources. However things play out, Smith will start in Week 1, provided he’s healthy.

Smith has been a borderline top-10 quarterback since becoming the Seahawks’ full-time starter in 2022. He made the Pro Bowl in 2022 and 2023 while having legitimately good seasons and helped guide them to three consecutive winning seasons.

Smith didn’t play as well in 2024, but he was far from bad. He completed 70.4 percent of his passes (fifth in the NFL) for 4,592 yards (fifth), 21 touchdowns (T-13th) and 15 interceptions (third most). He needs to do a better job of protecting the football in 2025, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a substantial upgrade over what the Raiders have gotten from the quarterback position since they benched and subsequently released long-time starter Derek Carr in 2022.

Carroll expects the Raiders to be competitive right away, even though they’re coming off a 4-13 season. In addition to signing defensive end Maxx Crosby to a three-year, $106.5 million extension on Wednesday, trading for Smith sends a clear message that that’s not just coachspeak. He means it.

Although Smith certainly helps those efforts, the Raiders still have plenty of work to do to turn that edict into reality.

They need a starting-caliber running back. The team released center Andre James on Friday, which likely means Jackson Powers-Johnson will transition to center full time after spending the majority of his snaps at left guard last year. That means the Raiders could use another starting-caliber guard, even after signing Alex Cappa to a two-year, $11 million deal Wednesday, given that he’s coming off a rough season. They also need a No. 1 receiver.

Defensively, the Raiders have a glut of starters and key contributors set to hit unrestricted free agency next week: defensive tackles John Jenkins and Adam Butler, defensive ends Malcolm Koonce and K’Lavon Chaisson, linebackers Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo, nickelback Nate Hobbs and safeties Tre’von Moehrig and Marcus Epps. It’s unlikely they’ll be able to bring all of them back.

In short, there are question marks all over the roster despite the Raiders finding an answer at football’s most important position.

So while Carroll, Spytek and the Raiders brass are glad they got their quarterback for the present — and have a plan in place to find their quarterback of the future — they also recognize this is just the beginning.

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)