New Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek took a risk this offseason by trading a third-round pick for veteran quarterback Geno Smith. This move was applauded by most around the league, but The Athletic's Mike Sando spoke to several anonymous NFL executives, and one had harsh words for the Raiders' new signal-caller.
“I don’t know if the rest of the team is going to be reflective of Geno’s ceiling this year, but I think they will win 8-9 games even if they are good around him because of his inconsistency,” said one NFL executive. “That goes up if they can build a top-five defense.”
Smith may not be one of the premier players under center in the NFL, but he is a dramatic upgrade over the quarterbacks that Las Vegas had on the roster a season ago. The team won four games with Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell and Desmond Ridder starting games for them, and the team was competitive in most of their contests.
Now, the team reunited Smith, the most accurate quarterback in the league, with coach Pete Carroll, who he played his best football under. While the Raiders still have plenty of holes on their roster and may not be in a position to compete for a Super Bowl this season, calling Smith an inconsistent player is unfair and untrue. No wonder this executive said this anonymously.
