The Las Vegas Raiders are attempting to go from worst to first as quickly as possible under Pete Carroll, who is slated to become the oldest head coach in NFL history this season. With Tom Brady shaping the organization in his image, Las Vegas at least feels like it has a clarity of vision that did not exist under previous regimes. Whether they're executing that vision successfully is up for debate.
Brady ostensibly found his QB of choice already. The Raiders struck a deal with the Seattle Seahawks to acquire Geno Smith, a signal-caller Carroll is intimately familiar with. Smith is one of the NFL's most underrated quarterbacks. He navigates pressure well and throws with a live arm. It was a great value addition.
Smith quickly inked a two-year, $75 million extension, which keeps him tethered to Las Vegas through the 2027 season. The 34-year-old will presumably finish out his contract as a starter, so long as his performance doesn't drop off sharply. That makes the latest revelation about Las Vegas' NFL Draft plans somewhat confounding.
According to FOX Sports' Jordan Schultz, the Raiders — owners of the No. 6 pick — are hosting Shedeur Sanders for a private visit this week.
Sources: Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders is scheduled to visit the #Raiders early next week.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 9, 2025
Las Vegas holds the No. 6 pick in the draft. They have been doing work on QBs and have other QB prospects also coming into their building. https://t.co/skupbeofmR pic.twitter.com/iMKl5Cu0Jl
Raiders host Shedeur Sanders for NFL Draft meeting, but what does it mean?
This feels like a real inflection point for the Raiders franchise. Sanders at No. 6 is probably fair value, but he's not going to start over Smith next season. Or the season after, more than likely. Plenty of quarterbacks benefit from time in the understudy role, but sitting your top-six pick for two-plus years is a gamble.
At best, it would be an expression of genuine patience and foresight by the Raiders front office. At worst, it would signal a lack of faith in Geno Smith and, potentially, a plan to undermine the veteran's tenure.
The Raiders should probably get a younger alternative in the building, but Sanders is a noisy prospect with considerable baggage. He is Deion Sanders' son — a high-profile Heisman Trophy candidate with a media apparatus that circles like vultures. Putting the buzziest prospect in the draft on ice for a couple years might not go over well. Not with Sanders, not with Smith, nor with the general public.
The Raiders are also expected to host other quarterbacks, so there's smoke to this fire. Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart is among those names. These days, the odds of Dart falling to the second round seem nonexistant. So is this a direct source of competition for Sanders, or is Las Vegas toying with trade options? With Sanders a candidate to fall further than expected on draft night, might the Raiders be looking to move back, draft a quarterback, and recoup additional assets? And, if so, is Sanders the primary target, or is it Dart?
We know, intrinsically, how much Brady values the quarterback position. We don't know much of his player evaluation skills yet, but one has to imagine Brady has an eye for talent under center. If the Raiders do wind up with a quarterback in the first round, however, it feels like Las Vegas is creating immediate and unnecessary instability. It's like Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. in Atlanta last season. That dynamic was always going to explode sooner than later. Putting a first-round pick behind Geno Smith can only work harmoniously for so long.