Geno Smith is set to suit up for the Las Vegas Raiders and it seems there is no place he'd rather be.
Following an offseason trade from the Seattle Seahawks, the well-traveled quarterback made the trek from Emerald City to Sin City, exchanging his blue-and-green threads for some silver-and-black instead.
It wasn't always supposed to go this way, but Smith was able to see the writing on the wall after his three-year run as a starter came to an end with the Seahawks.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Smith spoke on how his time with Seattle came to an end and how the stars aligned with him ending up in Vegas.
Smith mentioned the presence of a new coach, Mike Macdonald, and Seattle's commitment to their youth movement as almost seeing the writing on the wall.
“Just based on that conversation, I kind of knew the direction the team was going,” Smith told Breer.
So when the Seahawks made Smith a contract offer that didn't fully guarantee money in future years, the quarterback and team disconnect returned to the forefront. Smith's representatives didn't bother to counter, eventually setting the trade in motion.
As he gets set to enter his 12th season in the league, the quarterback now has the chance to reunite with Pete Carroll, who was hired as the Raiders' new coach earlier this offseason. Smith isn't bitter about how things ended in Seattle but did mention the importance of respect when it comes to a contract offer.
“Obviously, they have young guys in the building that they want to step up and be leaders, and they got a new head coach last year,” Smith said. “And Mike was good for us, and I really enjoyed being with him for that season. But again, man, when you’re talking about business, and you’re talking about a quarterback who wants not only to get paid –every player wants to get paid – but to be respected, that’s the most important thing. It’s the respect factor."
“And I just felt like there was a disconnect there," he ...
