Silver And Black Pride
Aidan O’Connell under contract for next two seasons; rookie Cam Miller is a developmental pick for Las Vegas
With Geno Smith on board, the Las Vegas Raiders are set for the short term at the all-important quarterback position.
The 34-year-old reunites with head coach Pete Carroll in the desert after the Silver & Black sent a 2025 third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks back in early March. A month later, Las Vegas inked Smith to a two-year, $75 million contract extension that ties the signal caller to the franchise through the 2027 season.
And after four season together (2020-23), both the bond and familiarity between the Raiders’ new QB1 and head honcho are as strong as ever.
Thus, Smith is the clear-cut starter for Carroll’s Raiders — a coach who inked a three-year pact with the team with an option for a fourth year. Were Smith and Carroll to ride through their current deals, after three seasons, the quarterback will be nearly 37 and the coach nearly 76.
By The Numbers
Geno Smith, Quarterback
But what about the long-term projection of the vital position?
That’s where it gets interesting.
The current makeup of Las Vegas quarterback room sees Smith atop the depth chart as the unquestioned starting quarterback this coming season. Aidan O’Connell, who enters his third season with the team after being drafted in the fourth round (135th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft, is slated to be the backup while undrafted free agent Carter Bradley and 2025 sixth-round pick (215th overall) Cam Miller are set to duke it out for QB3/emergency signal caller role.
O’Connell turns 27 on September 1 while Bradley is 25 and Miller recently turned 24. So it’s a relatively young quarterback room in Las Vegas and only Smith and O’Connell have experienced the rigors of the NFL games. Smith has 94 total games under his belt (83 starts and a 40-43-40 win-loss record as a signal caller) in 11 seasons, while O’Connell has 20 career games on his resume (17 starts, and a 7-10-0 win-loss mark) in two seasons.
Like many other incumbent Raiders, O’Connell is in dire need of stability in the coaching staff and front office. He’s had a new head coach and play caller in his first two seasons in the NFL and being a beneficiary of a sustained regime can do him and other Raiders good.
Contract-wise, Bradley has the shortest pact as he’s slated to become an exclusive-rights free agent at the end of this coming season. O’Connell is under contract for two more years under his rookie deal and hits unrestricted free agency in...
