Jorge Martin provides instant reaction to the Las Vegas Raiders trading for Geno Smith, which impacts Brock Bowers and leaves questions about the Seattle Seahawks' plans under center. 

What is it about Las Vegas that causes reunion tours to happen? No, it's not the Backstreet Boys getting a residency, but over at Allegiant Stadium Pete Carroll is reuniting with an old—er, former—quarterback. No, it's not Russell Wilson, but his former backup Geno Smith has been traded to the Raiders for a third-round pick (No. 92 overall) going to the Seahawks.

This is an instant jolt to the Raiders, who last year saw the quarterback duties split between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell. They combined to pass for 3,625 yards and 17 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. It's no wonder that the Raiders were looking to upgrade at the most important position in pro sports.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE RAIDERS AND Brock Bowers?

This could be fun. With the Minshew-O'Connell tandem, Bowers reset the rookie tight end record books with 112 receptions on 153 targets for 1,194 yards and 5 scores. While the Raiders could still add pass catchers to the team, it's hard to picture them making anyone other than Bowers the primary target in the passing game. Matthew Freedman in his early 2025 rankings has Bowers as the 16th player overall, right behind Josh Jacobs. He's not going down from that perch, and elite-TE drafters may push him up the draft board.

Smith is coming off a three-year run that was a resurgence to his career as a starting QB. He surpassed 4,000 yards twice and is coming off his third straight season with at least 20 touchdown passes. His 4,320 passing yards last season was fourth in the league, and his excellent 70.4% completion rate was fifth, right behind Joe Burrow. Ian Hartitz pointed out that Smith was first among 49 qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage over expected at +4.7%. Ian went into further detail:

Smith finished with 10 weeks surpassing 16 fantasy points, going over 20 points in five of those weeks. So he has plenty of life left in his arm going into his age-35 season.

Could this boost up Jakobi Meyers? Coming off a season with 1,027 receiving yards on 87 receptions (129 targets). That was good for WR18 on the season. Again, imagine him with a quarterback upgrade. The Raiders have been mocked Tetairoa McMillan in Freedman's latest mock draft. Though they have needs in upgrading the No. 26 offensive line in PFF's most recent rankings.

WHO WILL PLAY QUARTERBACK FOR THE SEAHAWKS?

That is the new question as we keep an eye on our resident Seahawks fan Kendall Valenzuela. This has been quite the week for the Seahawks, who moved on from Tyler Lockett and received a trade request from DK Metcalf. If the Seahawks are able to wrangle Darnold to the Pacific Northwest, his 8.22 adjusted yards per attempt that was No. 7 in the league might make for a happy marriage with Metcalf. 

Another winner would be Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who broke out with a stellar line of 100-1,130-6 and a Utilization Score of 7.3 that was good for 21st in the league. If Darnold goes elsewhere, the free agent quarterback market takes a step down quickly. No, we're not going to call for a reunion with Russell Wilson. That would be too cruel for Kendall.

This is a team to watch next week during NFL free agency. If Metcalf stays along with JSN, Kenneth Walker, and Zach Charbonnet, there is still talent on this offense. And picking 18th, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders will likely be long gone by then. For JSN's sake, no reclamation projects at QB. The Seahawks already did well to revive Smith's career. Lightning may not strike twice.