The Geno Smith saga is taking yet another turn.
A few days after it was reported that the Las Vegas Raiders intended to release Smith this week unless they were able to find a trade partner for him, the Raiders indeed were able to trade Smith — to his original team, the New York Jets.
The trade was reported by multiple national outlets Tuesday.
The Jets are reportedly sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Raiders for Smith and a seventh-round pick.
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According to reports, the Raiders will also take on some of Smith’s salary for 2026 with the NFL Network reporting that the Jets will pay Smith “a little over the league minimum” this season, estimated at roughly a little over $2 million.
That agreement allowed the trade to happen as the Raiders were expected to cut Smith to get out of paying him an $8 million guarantee that he is due on Friday. Smith has another $18.5 million in guaranteed salary for 2026.
It was believed those factors would make it difficult to trade Smith. But the Raiders’ willingness to take most of that on so they could at least get some draft capital in return appears to have allowed a trade to happen.
Smith was a second-round pick of the Jets in 2013 and he started 30 games there going 12-18 before moving on to the Giants in 2018, the Chargers in 2018 and Seattle in 2019 where he spent three years as a backup with the Seahawks before becoming the starter in 2022 following the trade of Russell Wilson to Denver.
Smith went 28-24 in three years as the Seahawks’ starter before being traded to the Raiders a year ago this month for a third-round pick that Seattle used on Alabama QB Jalen Milroe.
Smith was 2-13 in 15 starts for the Raiders last season under former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who was fired and replaced by Klint Kubiak, who spent the 2025 season as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator.
Justin Fields was the Jets primary starting quarterback in 2025, going 2-7 after signing a year ago this month as a free agent to a two-year contract worth up to $40 million. But it has been speculated that the Jets could try to trade or even release Fields.
The Jets also started veteran Tyrod Taylor for four games last year and Brady Cook for four more as they went 3-14. Taylor is now a free agent but Cook remains on the roster.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.