Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add Geno Smith to become the quarterback for the team.
The Las Vegas Raiders addressed the quarterback hole by trading for Geno Smith. Smith has been the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks the last three seasons, with a 27-22 record and one playoff appearance. All it took was a third-round pick to sway John Schneider into sending the former Pro Bowler to Las Vegas.
As we wait for contract negotiations to finish, John Spytek discussed the chance to land Smith in a podcast interview with Eddie Pascal of Raiders.com. He reviewed the process of trading for the veteran quarterback.
“As we got into it and we evaluated the options in free agency, the other players that maybe were available via trade, ultimately we arrived at a spot where we thought adding Geno made a lot of sense for us. It upgraded the position in our opinion. The compensation from a draft capital standpoint wasn’t so costly. I mean, I love my picks more than anybody and I gotta remind coach Carroll how much I love picks. But listen, we used a late third-round pick to hopefully have our starting quarterback here for years to come. And it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Spytek did seem hesitant to give up draft picks, which is reasonable. After coming off a 4-13 season, rebuilding the roster to a winner is the main objective. However, adding a quarterback of the caliber of Smith eases the process to know that at least the team has a starting quarterback.
The NFL draft is right around the corner, and Spytek will display his chops to build around Smith. They need to hit on their picks after a slow free agency.
In other Raiders links:
- Raiders 7-round mock draft update: Draft Wire has a new 7-round Raiders mock draft in which the Raiders build the backfield in the first round.
- Will Johnson is a prototypical Pete Carroll cornerback: Ray Asupria examines potential first-round pick Will Johnson and his fit with the Raiders.
- Jeffrey Bassa, the physical athlete: Matt Holder breaks down Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa and whether he could be a starting linebacker for the Silver and Black.
