Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or Derek Carr

Friday, May 30, 12:13 PM

The Athletic's Tashan Reed writes that so far this offseason, things have gone smoothly as Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have acclimated to one another. "Geno's literally like a second coach," Kelly said. "When you're in that room with him and Greg Olson, there's a lot of ideas going around. And then it's just a matter of corralling it. Because sometimes you can have too many ideas. Like, let's try to do a million things, and then you don't get good at one thing. But his football acumen is really off the charts, and it's impressive to be around him." Under Kelly, the Raiders want their offense to remain amorphous with flexibility to apply to their personnel groupings. Kelly is well-known for operating with plenty of wideouts, but Vegas also plans to use multi-tight-end sets frequently. Smith has a better TE to work with, but his weapons overall will be a downgrade from his last few years in Seattle. Consider him a high-end QB2/low-end QB1 in fantasy in his new digs.

Friday, June 6, 12:23 PM

Former New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (shoulder) made a surprising decision to hang up his cleats and retire from the NFL this offseason. "That part was tough because I didn't want to have surgery and just sit there and it sounds crazy but just take the Saints money," Carr said. He had two seasons left on the four-year, $150 million deal he signed with the Saints in 2023, although he gave up the $30 million salary he was set to earn in 2025. The four-time Pro Bowler was dealing with a right-shoulder injury that was going to require surgery and leave his availability uncertain for the start of the regular season this fall. Carr said the Saints wanted him to keep playing, but he couldn't commit to another season. With Carr now gone, the Saints will have a QB competition this summer, primarily between rookie second-rounder Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler.