The Las Vegas Raiders and Seattle Seahawks thew a curve ball at the NFL offseason by working out a shock trade involving Geno Smith.
Smith is on his way to Las Vegas. A third-round pick is going back to Seattle.
This trade will have reverberations across free agency. The Sam Darnold sweepstakes has changed considerably, but that’s not the only free agency saga impacted. Let’s look at which Raiders won’t be back after the latest news.
Quarterback Aidan O’Connell
Sure, it’s possible the Raiders will keep Aidan O’Connell around as insurance against a Smith injury. Smith has only missed two games in the last three seasons, but he will be 35 years old in October. Having a backup with starting experience and familiarity with the weapons on the roster is a luxury.
Still, if O’Connell isn’t going to be competing for the starting job, he is worth more to Las Vegas as a trade piece than a backup.
This isn’t completely unfounded speculation either. Vincent Bonsignore named Zach Wilson as a potential backup option for the Raiders. That would mean O’Connell isn’t around to fill that role.
O’Connell has two years left on his rookie deal. He’d be an attractive cheap option for teams like the Titans, Browns, Giants or Jets who may be looking for a stop gap while figuring out their QB situation via the draft.
The Bears managed to negotiate a conditional fourth-round pick for Justin Fields entering the final year of his contract. Fields didn’t meet the snaps threshold and Chicago ended up with a sixth, but the Raiders could look for a similar gamble.
O’Connell’s metrics aren’t bad. He maintained an 85.1 quarterback rating over his two years in Vegas while throwing 20 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. There might be takers and the Raiders should be talking to them.
Cornerback Nate Hobbs
Nate Hobbs was one of the bigger free agents the Raiders would have hoped to sign before they hit free agency. Over the last four years, the cornerback started 38 games while setting the tone physically in the slot.
Now, they have to account for a Geno Smith extension.
It already looked like Hobbs would be likely to test the free agency waters. It’s even more certain now that Las Vegas won’t be able to re-sign Hobbs while also taking care of the likes of Robert Spillane, Tre’von Moehrig and others. There’s no point in trading for a quarterback if you don’t intend to work out an extension. Regardless of when that extension happens, it’s going to loom over all the other contract negotiations the Raiders undertake this offseason.
Rumor has it the Steelers plan to pursue Hobbs. The Raiders might have been able to pull a new deal off if there weren’t others willing to bid and raise the price.
What about Tre’von Moehrig?
The Raiders could be in danger of losing another key cog in the secondary if Tre’von Moehrig finds a better offer on the open market. He’s hitting free agency after four seasons and 64 starts at safety. He was second only to Spillane in tackles last season.
The question is how much the impending Smith extension and other free agent needs stretch Las Vegas’ wallet. They might not have produced the highest bid for the safety anyways. But they might have been able to offer more before moving for Smith.
I’m not ready to rule out Moehrig returning to the Raiders. Having said that, he does wear No. 7 and Las Vegas just signed a quarterback who wears No. 7.
Would a jersey number factor in when considering which free agents to re-sign or which quarterbacks to trade for? Absolutely not. But it sort of feels like an omen.