NFL Draft 2013: Oakland Raiders Interested in Geno Smith with No. 3 Pick
By Josh Sanchez
With news that the San Francisco 49ers have traded quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs, former West Virginia signal-caller Geno Smith has been eliminated from the discussion as the potential No. 1 overall pick.
Since Kansas City is out of the running for Geno Smith, we are beginning to learn about more teams that are interested in the top-ranked quarterback.
One team that is reportedly interested in the former Mountaineer is the Oakland Raiders. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen passed along the news on NFL 32 on Wednesday afternoon that Oakland would consider Smith with the No. 3 overall selection.
“Word around the NFL is the Raiders have interest in Geno Smith with that third overall pick in the draft,” Mortensen said. “Now I can’t get this confirmed by the team, but Geno Smith is a guy that everybody sees as a top-10 pick right now — not everybody — but he’s got a chance to go in the top ten. And if the Raiders do like him, you better take him at No. 3.”
If Geno Smith was drafted by Oakland, Carson Palmer would likely be released.
This report seems like more of a smokescreen sent out by the Raiders or Smith’s agent. Since Smith is no longer in the running to be the top pick in April’s draft, saying the Raiders are interested could force a team to move to the No. 2 spot for Smith and guarantee him the best available quarterback contract. This time of year, there is always some misdirection and leaked information from clubs, so take Mort’s report with a grain of salt.
It is also reported that the Cleveland Browns are also interested in Geno Smith, but this could also be a smokescreen trying to influence a team to trade ahead of them in the draft.
This is the time of year that the NFL Draft rumors will begin to ramp up, so stay tuned to FanSided.com for the latest developments.