The new field marshal of the Raiders of Los Vegas, Geno Smith, saw the writing on the wall that his mandate as the seafarence of the seattle seattle Seahawks was coming to its end this low season. After all, he was entering the last year of his contract in 2025, and is a 12-year-old NFL veteran who had been in four different teams: the New York Jets (2013-2016), New York Giants (2017), Los Angeles Chargers (2018) and the Seahawks (2019-2024).
“Obviously, they have young people in the building who want to step forward and be leaders, and obtained a new chief coach last year,” Smith told Sports Illustrated on Friday. “And Mike [Macdonald] It was good for us, and I really enjoyed being with him for that season. But, again, man, when you are talking about business, and you are talking about a field marshal who not only wants them to pay you, all players want them to be paid, but be respected, that is the most important thing. It is the respect factor. And I felt that there was a disconnection there. ”
His conversation with Macdonald previously this low season was informative enough to know that his next contract would probably not arrive as a Seahawk.
“Simply based on that conversation, I knew the address that the team was going,” said Smith.
After Seattle exchanged him to Las Vegas for a third -round selection of 2025 in March, Smith obtained several years security that he longed for on Thursday with an extension of two years and $ 75 million that is worth up to $ 85.5 million and comes with $ 66.5 million guaranteed Until the 2027 season. A great advantage of that agreement for Smith is that the $ 18.5 million reported are for the 2026 season, indicating a two -year legitimate commitment to him from the Raiders. It also helps Smith meets his former coach of the Seahawks, Pete Carroll, who became the coach in the Raiders this low season, after calling him regularly to vent on the reconstruction of Seattle and his frustrations with her last season.
“I would call it every time I was frustrated,” Smith told yes. “He spoke to me through things, and he still trained me. And I think that is what makes him such a special man, he was training even when he was not my chief coach. Many of the things I was telling me, many conversations had really kept me stable throughout the season, and they kept me in my head.
“It was very frustrating last year, because as a team, we set goals for ourselves and we did not achieve those goals,” Smith continued. “And as part of the team, being a field marshal, I get along with my shoulders. And I feel that this is my responsibility to make it happen. Future plans.
Call it destiny, destination, whatever, but Smith believes that his meeting with Carroll should be.
“I think that if you believe in destiny, you believe in things like that, then it’s as if the stars were aligned, right?” Smith said. “They are all the things you would want. I could see Pete, but all the guys who would want to be part of that? We are here, we are doing this together. And I was sick, man, when [Carroll] He left Seattle. I was sick. And I didn’t see this coming. I think it’s going to be great for both of us. ”
In his introductory press conference of the Raiders on Monday, Smith made his dedication to Carroll and the Raiders Crystal Clear.
“I think there are pending issues, and I think that when people think of my story, you know, coach Carroll was a great part of that,” Smith said at his press conference. “He gave me a chance when not many people would have done it. He saw the hard work he was doing, he saw the things behind the scene that I do that allow me to have this opportunity. But to be able to play for him and again, being part of this organization means everything for me and my family.
“I was just saying: ‘Man, I will cross a wall for him,'” Smith continued. “And he knows it. I will do the same for my teammates and for this organization, so I just want that to be, you know, who I am and I want that to be the statement of who I am as the field marshal of this team.”
Geno Smith, Raiders agree on a mass extension of two years with $ 66.5 million guaranteed
Bryan Deardo
Smith is also delighted to have Chip Kelly as his offensive coordinator after seeing him help to boost his cousin, the Ohio state star, Jeremiah Smith, and the rest of the Buckeyes offensive to a national university soccer playoff championship in the same capacity last season.
“They had two 1,000 -yard runners, they had two 1,000 -yard receptors. I mean, they were very, very balanced,” said Smith. “They lost two of the best o-lines in the country and won and won the Natty. Seeing that team and how it developed [quarterback] Will Howard, and how he improved throughout the season, you see it. … Then, seeing that first hand, and all the schematic things they try to do to get advantages, and now it is bringing new wrinkles, to the NFL game? He has done this before and is doing it again, and I think it will be a big thing. “
Building a relationship with the owner of the Raiders and the seven -time Campo de Campo champion of the Super Bowl, Tom Brady, is also an advantage. Smith told himself that Brady facing Smith while the exchange was being finished. Brady, who did not feel appreciated by Chief coach Bill Belichick towards the end of his mandate of the New England patriots, said that his new Marshal of Campo de Pro Bowl felt the love upon his arrival in Las Vegas.
“I’ve always been really hard with myself to play the game without using all physical attributes,” Smith said. “And seeing my tape, that’s something that you noticed, how to handle the protections and I can enter and leave the plays. We execute a very intricate system [last year]. It was our first year in the system, but we did not contain anything. And I think that is something that [Brady] Recognized, he noticed. … neck things, decision making, leadership, all those things are the things Tom talked to me about the reasons why they loved me. ”
Once the exchange was performed, Smith told himself that Brady had Smith to hang out at his home in Miami to continue his conversation about the field marshal to a high level until forty. It is rare that Smith has felt completely appreciated and contractually safe throughout the winding path in the NFL career, but now that he has those things, Brady made Smith clear that security is not the finish line.
It is time to level up, something Smith has done in each of his last seasons in Seattle. Smith led the NFL as a percentage of completion (69.8%) in 2022, while also launched 30 TouchDown passes on the road to the winning honors of the NFL year player. In 2024, Smith established the maximums of his career in the percentage of completion (70.4%), ending (407) and yards that pass (4,320). All those are now as a single season of Seahawks, but the best best of the 2024 Smith race is looking to improve is its 10 victories in 17 games last season.
“What I was talking about with Tom, this is something he said, and this is true:” We don’t want to enter into contracts. We want to celebrate the victories, “said Smith.” And the point is that he only established the team for the team. This is our field marshal. This is the address in which we are heading. And there is no gray area there. Everything is in stone. And when you have that, when you can establish a real plan, then you can do things. As for the contract, I am very grateful, very grateful, much appreciated. But my main approach comes out there and you want the games, set a better tone and is a better version that sees any of me.
