Minnesota Vikings potential pursuit of Geno Smith relies upon history to repeat itself
Klint Kubiak needs to do with the Raiders that the Seahawks did a year prior.
The Minnesota Vikings are going to be looking for a new signal caller, and they have been linked to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes it could be a possibility.
“Geno Smith possibly joining the Vikings has been underplayed as a pairing in league circles, but it makes a lot of sense. He’s due $18.5 million in 2026 guarantees, but has another $8 million that guarantees on the third day of the new league year. He also offers “bridge QB” cover if the team doesn’t want to bail on McCarthy and show a true QB competition, even if veiled,” wrote Fowler.
Minnesota Vikings pursuit of Geno Smith reliant on Klint Kubiak
The Vikings will be pursuing quarterbacks quickly over the next couple of weeks. Smith is one of the many they have been linked to, with Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals being the other main one. There are other quarterbacks out there for the Vikings to target as well, but Smith arguably makes the most sense.
With the Vikings not having a lot of salary cap space to trade for Smith, they will have to wait until he hits the open market before making a realistic pursuit of him. That will require the Raiders to cut him.
Luckily for the Vikings, they have something going in their favor with that happening: head coach Klint Kubiak has technically done it before.
When Kubiak took over as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks last offseason, he was a part of the decision to trade Smith to the Raiders, as they decided to sign Sam Darnold instead. That decision was a major reason why the Seahawks ended up winning the Super Bowl.
Being that the Raiders have the first overall pick and are highly likely to select quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick, Kubiak could end up moving on from Smith before getting to coach him for the second-consecutive season. It would save the Raiders $8 million on the salary cap with a release, but they would save all $26.5 million with a trade. Because of that, the Raiders might be willing to eat a significant amount of money to get a trade done.
The most likely situation is that Smith is cut by the Raiders, and the Vikings get a chance to sign him to a veteran minimum contract, as the offset language would work out in the Vikings’ favor, as the Raiders would be paying Smith $18.5 million no matter what.
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