It’s time to run it all back with Last Week in Las Vegas sports news!
Highlights
- Las Vegas Raiders looking to make a surprise splash in the draft
- Lack of fan support may doom the Athletics in Las Vegas
- WWE reveals more matches for WrestleMania 41 weekend
- Las Vegas Golden Knights clinch a playoff spot after loss to Oilers
- Raiders sign Geno Smtih to a two-year, extension worth $75 million
#5 Las Vegas Raiders could make a surprise move during the 2025 NFL draft
Key point: Las Vegas Raiders may be moving on from Shedeur Sanders
Shedeur Sanders is dominating Las Vegas Raiders draft rumors, but he might be a red herring. In fact, there is growing speculation that the Raiders are shifting their attention to someone else. Someone who likely won’t be one of the first picks and drop down the order right into the Raider’s hands. On3 Sports Ben Garrett believes the Raiders are heavily focused on Ole Miss Quarterback, Jaxson Dart.
“He said he’s gonna be attending the draft, so that tells you where he thinks this thing’s kind of headed,” Garrett said when asked about the Raiders connection with Jaxson Dart “And the Raiders are another top 30 visit that he’s supposed to be taking as well.”
#4 Critic claims that the Ahletiics may not last in Las Vegas
Key point: Las Vegas sports scene may be too overcrowded for the Athletics
Clark County Commissioners unanimously approved permits last week that allow The Athletics to start building their new stadium. This vote gives the Athletics the green light to start building but comes at a time of uncertainty for the team. Las Vegas may also be a poor choice due to how many popular sports teams are already here. Popular radio host, TC Martin broke down the situation last week on his podcast.
“The Las Vegas community is lukewarm about the A’s relocating here,” says Aces play-by-play commentator, TC Martin, With the plethora of sports teams that we now have including the Raiders [NFL], Golden Knights [NHL] and Aces, there is a concern of saturation in the market.”
#3 Updates for WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas
Key point: WWE filling out the rest of the lineup for WrestleMania 41 weekend
WWE is going all in on WrestleMania 41 and that trend continued last week with the announcement of several marquee matches. These include Logan Paul Versus AJ Styles, Jade Cargill versus Naomi, and La Knight versus Jacob Fatu for the United States title. The company even announced a women’s tag team title match between Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and a pair of mystery opponents.
Kevin Owens is also making headlines after announcing on Smackdown that he will be unable to fight Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41 due to injury. In other news, CM Punk revealed that his secret favor is for Paul Heyman to be in his corner for his match against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. This is going to test Heyman’s loyalty to Reigns and should present an interesting dynamic for the night one main event.
#2 Las Vegas Golden Knights clinch a spot in 2024 playoffs
Key point: Las Vegas Golden Knights make the Stanely Cup playoffs
The Las Vegas Golden Knights are now officially in the playoffs following a 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers last week. Despite the loss, and their six-game winning streak ending. the team is quite proud of their recent accomplishment. Nicolas Roy even talked about what the feat meant for the team in a post-game interview with reports.
“It says a lot from top to bottom,” Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy said. “Everybody, starting with [team owner] Bill [Foley]. Obviously, with the coaching and all the staff we have here, we’ve got the best. We’ve got the best fans. It’s a really good setup. So, it’s fun to be part of it.”
#1 Geno Smtih gets a two-year contract extension with the Las Vegas Raiders
Key point: Las Vegas Raiders sign Geno Smith to blockbuster extension
The Las Vegas Raiders signed Geno Smith to a two-year, $75 million contract extension last week including $65.5 million in guaranteed money. There are also incentives in his deal that could see him making $85.5 million based on his performance. The new deal comes after only being a member of the Raiders for less than a month.
Las Vegas’s move mirrors several big-money deals that they have given Quarterbacks in the past. The first is Derek Carr who negotiated a $121.5 million deal in 2022, despite having lackluster numbers. He got released the very next year before his contract deadline and has been struggling with the Saints ever since.
The second example is Jimmy Garropolo, who received $75.5 million from the Raiders. Graoppolo thanked them for failing to disclose an injury, which caused them to delay his signing. Grappolo was eventually benched before the season ended, with several injuries, and nine interceptions. Now Geno Smith seems to be following the same path while the Raiders prove they haven’t learned from their mistakes.
