The Las Vegas Raiders aren't messing around with any slow-played rebuild under new head coach Pete Carroll. They might keep one eye slightly on the future, but the Raiders are going to try to gain ground in the AFC West quickly and they are believing that veteran Geno Smith is the man to help them do it at the quarterback position.
Although Smith is imperfect, he's probably the best quarterback the Raiders will have had since Derek Carr was at his very best for the team, and he already represents an appreciable upgrade for Vegas over what they have had in the last couple of seasons.
So what will Pete Carroll and company look to do in the 2025 NFL Draft? How will they not only support the addition of Geno Smith but also set the franchise up to win from now on...baby?
Let's put our armchair GM hats on and hit a brand-new 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Las Vegas Raiders edition.
Las Vegas Raiders 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Shedeur Sanders the QB in waiting
1st round: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Even though the Raiders made the trade for Geno Smith, they still don't likely have their quarterback of the "future" on the roster just yet. Not that there is pressure for that to happen immediately, but if Shedeur Sanders is still on the board with the 6th overall pick, the Raiders will probably have an interesting decision to make in their war room.
Sanders could go as high as the first QB off the board or he could potentially fall down into the mid-late first round as we explored in our latest 3-round mock draft scenario.
I tend to believe that a team like the Raiders went after Geno Smith because they're not certain that Sanders will be on the board at pick 6 overall. They could end up being left without a date to the dance and they didn't want to be caught in that situation, hence the trade for Smith. While Smith raises the floor temporarily, we saw last year how important it was for the Falcons to stick to their convictions with Michael Penix Jr., because you never know when veterans are going to fall completely off.