News broke yesterday that the Las Vegas Raiders are trading for Geno Smith. Contract negotiations broke down between Smith and the Seahawks. Rather than going into the 2025 season with Smith's 2026 free agency status looming, they moved Smith down south to Las Vegas for a third-round draft pick. The problem with this for the Chicago Bears is that it likely means one of their top 2025 NFL Draft targets will likely not fall to them at 10th overall.
The Raiders now have their quarterback in Geno Smith. Smith will be the main guy since he's set to earn $31 million this season. The team also just signed star defensive end Maxx Crosby to a three-year extension despite rumors that he may have been available via trade. In fact, reports are the Seahawks wanted Crosby, and the Raiders instantly said no.
Crosby was a dream trade scenario for the Chicago Bears at one point, but after trading for two interior offensive linemen in Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney, I'm not confident that Chicago will be making any additional trades. If Trey Hendrickson only costs a second-rounder, then he might be the exception.
Raiders' trade for Geno Smith might ruin Ashton Jeanty to the Bears
Unfortunately, the Raiders' moves mean that the Chicago Bears might miss out on their opportunity to draft a star prospect who is already connected to the team. Ashton Jeanty met with the Bears in Indianapolis at the 2025 NFL Combine. He is also expected to be invited for a top-30 visit. With the Raiders' addition of Geno Smith, they won't have to draft a quarterback in the first round, meaning they may set their sights on Jeanty with their sixth-overall pick.
When I look at the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft and the Raiders' current roster construction, two names jump out at me as possible targets - Ashton Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan. After trading away Christian Kirk and releasing Eric Ebron, McMillan might make the most sense for the Jaguars at 5. This might force the Raiders to take Jeanty at 6.
I do not foresee a situation where the Chicago Bears would trade up for a player like Jeanty. Running backs are devalued in the NFL, however, it does seem like a slight shift may be taking place with how well Saquan Barkley performed in Philadelphia and how high Jahmyr Gibbs was drafted by Ben Johnson's former team, the Lions.
The parallels of Gibbs to Jeanty with Ben Johnson in charge make complete sense, but with how deep this draft class is at running back, I'd hope the Bears wouldn't trade up for Jeanty. I'd rather them wait and take a guy like Kaleb Johnson or Omarion Hampton. I'd even get excited with TreVeyon Henderson or Cam Skateboo being added to the roster. The options are there at the RB position for Chicago and trading up for Jeanty, even though he's most analysts' (including my own) top prospect at the position, seems like overkill.
If you are a fan of the Chicago Bears landing Ashton Jeanty, here is to hoping the Jaguars don't take McMillan, leaving him for the Raiders at 6. That is the only way I see him lasting to 10 and even then, Chicago will have to hope the Panthers or Saints don't take him at 8 or 9 overall.