MAJOR Raiders Rumors On Geno Smith From ESPN

MAJOR Raiders Rumors On Geno Smith From ESPN

Do you want Gino Smith to be the Raiders quarterback in 2026? If you’re watching this video, all I want you to do is answer this question and please, please, please go down in the comments section and defend your answer. Raider Nation, what’s going on? It’s Mitchell Wens, your host of the Raiders Report. Coming up on today’s show, major Raiders rumors on Gino Smith from ESPN. And the reason why I want to be able to sit up here and talk about this is because in an article released by ESPN, they do not think that Gino Smith is going to be returning to the Las Vegas Raiders in the year 2026. Now, again, this is simply just a rumor, but ESPN obviously has sources and people who put a lot of their content together. When you write something that Smith returning would be a surprise. Guess what? It’s going to catch my eyes. It’s exactly why we’re here to talk about it. Gino Smith does have two years left on his contract. 26 million next season is his base. 27 million is his base or 39 million is his base in 2027. But with these years, it’s 0 million guaranteed in 2027. And there’s some money that the Raiders would have to pay in the year 2026. But this is what ESPN had to say. It would be a surprise if Smith made it to a second season with the Raiders as the starting quarterback, but there are explanations that can be made for his struggles. Smith has uh sorry, I lost my spot. Uh Smith hasn’t had a healthy Brock Bowers for most of the season, and is no surprise that his two best games have come when the team’s franchise tight end was healthy against the Patriots and the Jaguars. I totally agree with that statement and it’s something that I said multiple times of you could see that Gino Smith was better week one against New England, week nine against Jacksonville. This past week against Denver wasn’t good. I’m not going to sit up here and say that it was. But then also when you see the way that the game was called, like I expected that Brock Bower was going to be double teamed a ton in that game against Denver. And the fact that he wasn’t and he wasn’t double team really even at all. Um I think it’s just really really frustrating because that tells me that that’s a Chip Kelly problem. and not just a Gino Smith problem. But ESPN outlines in this article multiple reasons why they don’t think that Smith is going to be back with the silver and black. And the very first reason is the Raiders expected Gino to be better. I expected to be have a better Gino Smith, right? Like I sat up here on this show and I said that he’s a 14th best quarterback with top 10 upside. And quite frankly, I don’t even know if you could say he’s a top 30 quarterback the way that he’s played this season. And ESPN agrees with me. Smith was expected to raise the Raiders floor, and he hasn’t lived up to the expectations. He can be one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league when he’s on his game, but that was always tempered by trying to fit throws into windows that weren’t actually open. And it’s the fact, right, like Gino Smith has no doubt struggled this season being accurate. But I think also probably the biggest issue with Gino Smith this season has been his confidence. Like you can tell he’s a quarterback that second guesses himself all the time. I literally just listened to Gino’s press conference on Thursday and he was talking about how he’s just got to let it rip, how he’s just got to sling it. I kind of want that to happen. The other thing that scares me though is when Gino Smith just goes out there and he lets it rip this season, he has a tendency to throw it to the other team. But if we can get the Gino I expected, then I do think that we’re going to at least get this thing going in the right direction. But if we don’t get at least a decent Gino Smith, I don’t know how the hell you sell the idea on bringing that guy back here to this organization. Let’s go to the next reason why he’s not going to return to the Raiders according to ESPN. too many negative plays and I uh I can’t believe how many times Gino Smith does something and you’re just like what on earth am I looking at here dude and Smith has made too many ill-advised passes this season leading to a league worst 4.5% interception rate when you consider that Smith is taking sacks more than 9% of the time there are too many negative plays for this Raiders offense to survive let alone thrive And you’re 100% right, ESPN. It’s really difficult to be able to move the football on a consistent basis when your quarterback is consistently turning the ball over, isn’t seeming to feel well, and he isn’t trusting himself. Now, yes, this offensive line is not good. Yeah, the skill position players when not fully healthy, haven’t been good this season. We’ve had some changing pieces. Chip Kelly deserves blame. There’s a lot of guys that deserve blame, but also at the end of the day, you traded for him and you gave him a brand new contract before he proved anything because you were an organization that did that. I don’t really want to hear excuses. And Gino, you put it on your Instagram literally the other day. No excuses. You wouldn’t let me or anybody else comment on it. And that’s where I’m at at this point. There’s no more excuses. Your job is to play quarterback for the Raiders. Your job is to do it well. And if you don’t do it, well, quite frankly, I don’t even see how you expect to be back next season. But we got a big game on Monday Night Football. And I’ve been telling y’all all week long, we’re going to do our best to keep you guys up to date with our week 11 sub battle. We are a little bit behind the Cowboys report, but I have a lot of confidence in y’all. If you hate the Cowboys or if you just love competition and you’re like, you know what, we might not be able to beat Dallas on the field on Monday, but if we have a way to be able to beat Dallas fans, I’m always about it. Make sure you subscribe. Make sure you’re ready to go for our watch party. Monday Night Football, it’s going to be electric. Let’s go to the next reason here. Why ESPN doesn’t think Gino Smith is going to return in the year of 2026. Unfortunately, this looks to be a downward trend for one of the most unexpected stories of the past few NFL seasons. Smith has become worse across each subsequent season after taking over as the Seahawks starter. though he had the seventh highest total QBR in 2022. That dropped to 14th in 2023, 21st in 2024, and now 31st in 2025. Smith could always turn things around in a better situation, but it’s tough to imagine another team clearing a path for him at 35 years old to be its unquestioned quarterback one. And when you look at these numbers, I mean, you could clearly see it is not trending in the direction we are hoping. And sometimes, you know, when you get tape on a guy and you can learn what he does well, what he doesn’t do well, you can scheme for it. And I haven’t watched every single Gino Smith game from 2022, 2023, 2024. I have obviously watched a ton of tape on those, but me being the Raiders fan that I am, and I have seen the games this season, teams know exactly what Gino likes to do. And I think it’s a really easy example of, you look at that week one game of how well we were able to stretch the ball down the field. Now, teams are literally just forcing him to to dink it and dunk it. They’re taking away the deep ball. They’re taking away, you know, what he does well. The problem is Gino isn’t confident enough in himself to be able to distribute the football to all of our players. And you know, when I watched that tape back a few years ago, he looked like a quarterback that could at least move, that could at least run a little bit with the football if need be. He is a statue back there in that pocket. And I don’t know if he just didn’t put in the right work ethic this off season. I also know like I’m a 33 year old guy and I know I’m not 34, but I’ll tell you this, every year I get older. Man, my knees hurt a little bit more. I feel a little bit older. And I really do look and I think when I watch Gino Smith tape from last year to this season, it actually looks like a quarterback that has lost it. That like that the cliff has already happened. You know, the cliff that you typically see in a quarterback when they’re like 40 years old. Remember Pton Manning that one year? Yeah, they ended up winning the Super Bowl, but you clearly saw that breakoff. You know, a guy like Matt Ryan clearly saw that breakoff. Philip Rivers clearly saw that breakoff. Ben Rothosberger clearly saw it. I feel like that’s what has happened this season for Gino Smith because your eyes tell you, the stats tell you it’s just boldface. It’s Gino Smith is not a good quarterback in the year of 2025. We have more reasons coming up here in just a moment. But our show sponsor today is prize picks. And the number one reason why I will tell everyone out there to watch Monday Night Football because if you have an opportunity to put money in your pocket, I want you to be able to do that. And I also want you to have something that you can honestly sit back, enjoy, and root for. And the hardening football action is even better on prize picks. The weather might be changing, but being right that never gets old. So keep the season rolling on prize picks by getting $50 instantly in lineups when you play your first $5. If you want to see the lineup that I’m rolling with here, and I know it might look a little bit different because of what I did, I wanted to just show you the difference between a flex play and a power play on the very bottom and how it can, you know, change how much money you’re able to make. Ashton Genty, Brock Bowers, Gino Smith, I’m sorry, I’m taking the lesson on all things Raiders this week. Then George Pickkins, give me the more because I think he’s going to be the one matched up against Isaiah Paul Mau, matched up against Kai Blue Kelly, Darian Porter. I will admit if they put CD Lamb or if they put Eric Stokes on pickings that might change my confidence level in the more but I still think I would end up going with more nonetheless. If you want to roll with that lineup then join millions of users and sign up for America’s number one fantasy sports app out there. It’s Prize Pick. Download the Price Picks app today. Use code seal and s to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code seal and has to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks, it’s good to be right. Let’s go to the next reason here of why ESPN doesn’t think Gino’s going to return. He could be benched. And I would be still surprised if he’s benched because of his relationship with Pete Carol. But at the same time, if you didn’t know the Gino Smith, Pete Carol relationship, and if you didn’t really know a lot of the other BS that I think us as Raider fans know kind of is going on right now in that organization and in that locker room, I don’t really know if they’re ever going to bench him. But when you hear what they have to say, it’s kind of interesting. It might honestly be an upset if Smith finishes the 2025 season as the Las Vegas starter. The Raiders traded for 27-year-old Journeyman Kenny Picket. And this Pete Carol John Spytech regime has yet to see Aiden Okonnell, who I should admit was a full participant again on practice on Thursday. He’s just been a healthy scratch, who started 17 games between 2023 and 2024 before fracturing his wrist in August. I doubt that the Raiders see either Pickicket or Okonnell as anything more than a backup option in 2026 and beyond, but they might want to see what those players can do. And I’ll say it like this, man. I completely agree with what ESPN is saying here because I don’t look at Kenny Picket as being a full-term option. I don’t look at Aiden Okonnell being a fullterm option. You know, Cam Miller’s on the practice squad. I know a bunch of y’all love Cam, but it’s probably not good for Cam to go out on the field behind this offensive line. It’s only going to hurt his development. But also, like, we have so many questions that we have as Raider fans. We have so many questions as a football team, as an organization. And I know this that Gino Smith has not done a good job with Chip Kelly. And if you want to find out other answers, like, does Aen O’Connell look better during the regular season with Chip? Does Kenny Picket look better in the regular season with Chip? Like if Kenny Pig’s bad, if Adiden Okonnell was as bad as what he was in the preeason and Gino Smith was really bad, you know, you might be able to sell the fact of that it’s an offensive coordinator problem. Now, I know Gino Smith at the podium, you know, today again that I’m making this video said that him and Chip are good, that he likes a lot of the plays that Chip’s calling. It’s one of those situations like what exactly do you expect your quarterback to say? I expect my quarterback to say this truth and I expect people to say exactly what is on their mind because the moment you don’t do that, you’re wasting my time and you’re wasting literally everybody’s time that watches those press conference because with all due respect and I know the Raiders media team, there’s a lot of people that go into those press conferences. They are really truly truly just a waste of time. So, who’s with me here? If you want the Raiders to bench Gino Smith, they’re going to start him this week against the Dallas Cowboys. He’s going to be the Monday Night Football starter. This is not a let’s bench him now before Monday night because at this point it’s way too late to do it. But if he goes out there and he plays bad again, you got to have this compete mentality because Pete Carol laughed and he giggled when he was like, “Oh yeah, we brought in Greg Joseph for competition because Daniel’s been struggling.” I wish Gino Smith was struggling the way Daniel Carlson’s been struggling. So, let’s get some competition in there for Gino because if he doesn’t keep playing well, you got to look at Kenny Picky. You got to look at Aiden Okonnell because if I got to keep looking at Gino Smith and the Raiders jersey, it’s uh it’s a really hard thing to look at. And I’m just being honest with y’all. Let’s go to the final reason here of why ESPN thinks Gino will not return. The money side. And you know, again, a lot of this stuff is he said, she said type of stuff, like it’s going to be us poking holes and whatnot. But a big big part of it and a lot of times a big part of it is the money side. And you know the Raiders, they’re already on the hook for 18.5 million of what Smith is owed next year. A number he won’t top if he’s released and hits free agency. That might as well be sunk cost for what it took to acquire Smith and pay him in 2025, which will turn out to be a one-year starter at $ 58.5 million. Let me just Oh my god. 58.5 million for that. For that. Holy I’m going to try to refrain myself from absolutely blowing my gasket, but it’s the truth, right? The Raiders have already paid Gino, and if you want to move on from him, you’re absolutely going to be able to do it. The biggest reason why I actually don’t think that the Raiders are going to move on from Gino is because of the money you’ve already paid him. So, coming up here next, I’m going to show you a question around what ESPN is saying in regards to the Raiders, in regards to Gino Smith, and it’s what I honestly think is going to happen with the Raiders and with Gino in 2026. I think he’s going to be on this team next season. ESPN is a little up in the air about it, but when you see the end of the show, I think you’re also going to go, “Yeah, I I think Gino Smith is going to be on this team next year.” Now, again, we got a big time Monday night game. Two-7 Raiders, three five- one Dallas Cowboys. I’ve been getting heckled uh down here in Dallas. Actually, my Uber driver today when I was going to the gym, true story, watched Tom Downey, watched our Cowboys report show was uh talking all this smack to me because I had a Raiders tattoo. He obviously saw it. And I told that guy, I’m like, “Yo, you better pull up to our Monday night football game.” He said he’s going to bring it. My question is, are you going to bring it? I hope that y’all bring it. I hope you’re ready to go. And I’ll say this, if we lose to the Cowboys report, um, I got to wear a Cowboys cheerleader outfit. I know some of y’all probably want to see me in that nav man’s on. You know what I’m talking about, but I don’t want to have to wear that thing on Tuesday when I’m here at work. So, please show up, show out. Let’s just at least beat the Cowboys report. Let’s go to the final thing here though from ESPN on Gino Smith. The question for the Raiders is whether they’d want to pay an additional 8 million to keep Smith as their backup in 2026. He was already a well-established and respected backup before getting his opportunity to replace Russell Wilson in Seattle. And Smith could probably expect to land a contract in that price range if he hit free agency to serve as a backup or potential bridge starter to a young quarterback somewhere else. the Raiders probably would be interested in someone like Smith if they had to draft a quarterback in 2026 anyway. So, it wouldn’t be too foolish to just pay the additional 8 million and hold on to the guy they already know. And, you know, I think if you’re the Raiders, like that’s probably going to be what happens. I would imagine the Raiders pay that eight extra million dollars for Gino Smith and he’s on this roster. The way though that I would handle the whole Gino Smith situation is I would do it exactly kind of like the what the Giants just did where you had Russell Wilson, you drafted Jackson Dart. And I don’t know if necessarily it’s smart maybe to draft a quarterback in round one this year because of all the holes we had. I saw a picture the other day and I, you know, please forgive me. I believe it was Pharaoh, my guy Pharaoh on Twitter and he was like, I think the Raiders should do like a 2014 draft where it’s like you take best player available in that first round, Khalil Mack, then you go out and find a really good quarterback in round two. ended up being Derek Carr and then like you build the rest of your team that way. It’s kind of the way that I think that the Raiders should try to go about this season where you’re probably going to have Gino Smith be the starter in 2026. Nat Leash is going to be really, really short. And then if he plays bad, then maybe you put in another quarterback. Obviously, I don’t know. The other thing that the Raiders could do is say, “FGo Smith, I’m going to save that $8 million. I’m going to invest that $8 million into some other pieces elsewhere because I’ll also say I think we already have a really good backup quarterback in Adiden Okonnell at a fraction of the price.” So, here’s going to be the final question on today’s show. Will Gino Smith be on the Raiders next season. One for yes, two for no. I can’t wait to see how these answers end up going down. I I’ll say this. I know I’ve already given my two cents. I know I have already given my opinion on this. I do really think that Gino Smith is going to be on this team. And I say that from uh if you want the Raiders to draft a quarterback and the way that I would want the team to do it, you know, you would want that young quarterback to be able to learn from somebody that knows our head coach. Well, that’s a whole another conversation, probably a whole another video. But even though ESPN doesn’t think Gino’s going to be back next season, I have that gut feeling that he is. And I think he’s going to come back because of Pete Carol.

Raiders Rumors On Geno Smith From ESPN are coming at you from Mitchell Renz host of the Raiders Report. Raiders Report presented by PrizePicks! Head over to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS and use code clns to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! According to ESPN “It would be a surprise if Smith made it to a second season with the Raiders as the starting quarterback.” Pete Carroll traded for Geno Smith this offseason and then gave him an extension. Today MItchell Renz is giving his opinion on this Raiders news from ESPN that was featured in this article “2026 NFL offseason: Teams that could change QBs next season.”

Subscribe to the Raiders Report for more NFL & Raiders videos: https://www.youtube.com/raidersreport?sub_confirmation=1

Geno Smith ESPN stats from Bill Barnwell
2026 cash: $26.5 million ($18.5 million already guaranteed)
Future guarantees: None
Savings if traded before June 1: $26.5 million in cash and cap
Savings if cut before mid-March: $8 million in cash and cap
2025 Total QBR: 34.7 (31st of 33 QBs)

Make sure you share this video to help Raiders Report continue to grow!

DON’T MISS OUT! When Raiders news happens we make a video! Turn on your notifications!

Las Vegas Raiders YouTube videos to watch if you love the Silver & Black:
– Raiders vs. Jaguars GAMEDAY! Prediction For NFL Week 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrxIqTUkVJ8
– Aidan O’Connell Starting Over Geno Smith Is What Raiders Fans Want | Raiders Rumors Mailbag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHxUfGN4XlU
– Raiders Trades That Make Me Want To Puke! NFL Trade Rumors & Ideas Ft. Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK9xOk9dHcA

ESPN on why Geno Smith won’t return to the Raiders
“It would be a surprise if Smith made it to a second season with the Raiders as the starting quarterback. But there are explanations that can be made for his struggles. Smith hasn’t had a healthy Brock Bowers for most of the season, and it’s no surprise that his two best games have come when the team’s franchise tight end was healthy against the Patriots and Jaguars. The Raiders have fielded replacement-level tackles since Kolton Miller went down because of an ankle injury in Week 4. And Chip Kelly’s return to the NFL as Vegas’ offensive coordinator has been a major disappointment, with the Raiders struggling to run or find reliable ways to get their best players the ball.”

Raider Nation – Follow Raiders Report host Mitchell Renz on social media for the latest Raiders rumors:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellrenz365
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mitchellrenz365
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MitchellRenz365

Raider Nation, If you enjoy WiFiWillie Raiders, Las Vegas Raiders Network, NFL News Today, The Rush With Maxx Crosby, Mattydubs, Las Vegas Raiders Insider with Hondo Carpenter, Saturday Morning inspection, OLV Raiders Network, Microphone, Las Vegas Raiders News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Raider D Podcast, Raider Honcho, The Rich Eisen Show, SamoanRaider, Raider Films, Daily Raiders, Raid The Tape, Locked On Raiders, RAIDalert then you will like the Raiders Report: https://www.chatsports.com/las-vegas-raiders/

Follow @ChatSports on social media for more NFL news & NFL rumors:
Tweets by ChatSports

@chatsportstv

https://www.facebook.com/chatsports
https://www.instagram.com/chatsports

Join thousands of sports fans by subscribing to Chat Sports for the
latest on the NBA, college football, and NFL seasons:
http://www.youtube.com/@chatsports?sub_confirmation=1

#Raiders #RaidersNews #GenoSmith #CSPP2025 #AD