Steelers, Vikings could have interest in Raiders $75 million cut candidate

The Las Vegas Raiders are turning the page to a new chapter in franchise history once again.

Not only do the Raiders have a new head coach in Klint Kubiak, but they are also expected to draft Indiana star quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick. From there, Mendoza will almost certainly be the team's Week 1 starter

That leaves the future of Geno Smith, the team's 2025 starter who failed miserably, up in the air and there's a good chance Las Vegas parts ways with him, especially with the man who was the driving force behind acquiring Smith, Pete Carroll, no longer with the Raiders.

We would expect the Raiders to try and trade Smith first, but a cut feels more likely when you consider Smith's $75 million contract and how bad he was in 2025.

The Raiders would save $8 million by cutting Smith, but that would incur a dead-cap charge of $18.5 million. But that dead-cap hit is chump change for a Raiders team that has $91.5 million in cap space this offseason.

If you ask Matt Okada of NFL.com, he believes Smith could be cut this offseason, and we fully agree. Here's what Okada said about a possible Smith release:

"With the No. 1 draft pick in hand and a new regime in place, it’s a near-lock the Raiders will be moving in a new direction at quarterback this offseason," Okada said. "It also didn’t help that Smith finished the 2025 season with 19 touchdowns, a league-high 17 interceptions and 55 sacks, an atrocious 84.7 passer rating and what was undoubtedly some of the worst tape in the league (at least according to my eyes)."

If there's two teams that could have interest in a veteran quarterback like Smith, it's the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings.

The future of Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh remains up in the air and if he decides to retire or play elsewhere, the Steelers will be looking to bring in a veteran to replace him and compete with Will Howard and Mason Rudolph.

The Vikings have a different situation on their hands, as the team has a potential franchise quarterback in J.J. McCarthy, but he simply wasn't good enough last season to cement himself as the long-term starter and now Minnesota needs a veteran to push or replace the third-year signal-caller.

While Smith was awful last season, it is worth noting that the Raiders' offensive dysfunction included a lot more than just Smith's poor play.

Chip Kelly was an unmitigated disaster as a play-caller, and the Raiders lacked talent up and down their unit, including at wide receiver and offensive line.

It's reasonable to suspect Smith could rebound in a better situation. He was a far better player during his days with the Seattle Seahawks, when he won 28 games over five seasons, one of which saw Seattle make the postseason.

The Vikings have a much better situation on offense than the Raiders did in 2025, and we've seen head coach Kevin O'Connell help a down-and-out quarterback rebound before.

If Smith does that in Minnesota, the Vikings will be playoff-bound in 2026.

Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy has a positive history with quarterbacks, also, and while we believe Smith would be a downgrade from Rodgers, he could still be a sufficient enough solution to get Pittsburgh to the playoffs while serving as the bridge until Pittsburgh finds it's long-term franchise quarterback.

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