Tag Archives: Geno Smith

For 50-year celebration game, Bucs & Hawks have revitalized franchise QBs

October 3, 2025 cc 1 Comment

As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seahawks celebrate 50 years in the league together by facing off Sunday, both have a more immediate reason to celebrate: They have found their next franchise quarterbacks and those guys have them on track to make the playoffs.

This contest, while big in the early NFC playoff picture, is also a lesson in the NFL’s general inability to coach talented quarterbacks into productive ones.

Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold were the No. 1 and 3 overall picks in the 2018 draft, and both were completely unsupported by their first, failing franchises. They were teammates on another bad club for a few games after being traded from their original teams and then finally found places where they could grow into the franchise passers they are today – both secure as the offensive leaders in Tampa and Seattle.

They were victims of the NFL’s ongoing struggle to develop quarterbacks – especially in a system that sends top college passers to the worst teams.

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Coaches, Contracts, Trades

Carroll’s return was Geno’s out as he felt ‘disconnect’ in Seattle

April 8, 2025 cc Leave a comment

Without saying it out loud, Geno Smith basically confirmed what we always thought: Pete Carroll’s return to the NFL precipitated Smith’s departure from Seattle.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (along with ESPN’s Brady Henderson): We think Smith very likely would still be in Seattle (under a new deal) if Carroll had not been hired by the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Contracts, Free agency

Hawks saved $30M in 2025 swapping out QB and receivers

March 27, 2025 cc 2 Comments

Ever since the Seahawks
essentially swapped Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp and Marques Valdes-Scantling, plus a couple of Day 2 picks, fans have debated whether the Hawks made a good aggregate deal.

Now that we have numbers on all of Seattle’s contracts, we can compare the money (pending Smith’s new deal with the Raiders).

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Coaches, Free agency, The roster

Kubiak ties to Darnold & MVS countered losses of Geno & Metcalf

March 13, 2025 cc Leave a comment

Relationships make the NFL go round – and that was never more obvious than in all of the Seahawks’ dealings over the past week.

The franchise’s relationship with DK Metcalf soured to the point that he simply wanted to go play elsewhere. John Schneider said he could not work it out with Metcalf, so he traded him to Pittsburgh.

Then Geno Smith forced a trade when he and his agent refused to respond to Seattle’s fair contract offer – $40 million in 2025, per Brady Henderson. Whether Smith intended it or not, he got a reunion with his favorite coach, Pete Carroll, back in the NFL with the Raiders.

That might have left the Seahawks in a bind if not for Mike Macdonald’s preemptive move to hire Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator. Kubiak’s previous relationship with Sam Darnold made it easy for the Hawks to quickly replace Smith with Darnold.

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Contracts, Free agency

Free agency Day 1: Hawks get a good deal on Darnold

March 10, 2025 cc Leave a comment

As expected, the Seahawks quickly agreed to a deal with Sam Darnold.

It was reported as $100.5 million over three years, with $37.5 million in Year 1 and $55 million total guaranteed. So essentially that is a two-year deal worth $55 million — $27.5 million a year. And then they will revisit in 2027.

If he continues to ascend his play under Klint Kubiak, he will merit a new deal. Otherwise, the Hawks set it up as a two-year trial — with many thinking (hoping) they will draft a QB this year or next.

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Free agency, The roster

Would Darnold be only a ‘bridge’ quarterback?

March 9, 2025 cc 1 Comment

If Sam Darnold does indeed sign with the Seahawks, would he be the next Russell Wilson or just the next Geno Smith – a long-term answer or another so-called placeholder?

National media is abuzz with the projection that Darnold and the Seahawks are headed for a quick marriage – as soon as Monday, when teams can agree to deals with outside free agents.

Along with that informed speculation comes plenty of this: “Darnold would replace Smith as the bridge quarterback while Seattle looks to draft a potential franchise QB in 2025 or 2026.”

But why couldn’t the not-yet 28-year-old Darnold be the longish-term answer for Seattle?

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The roster, Trades

Geno traded: Why and how Hawks are suddenly changing quarterbacks

March 7, 2025 cc 1 Comment

In a surprising move that seemed unlikely based on everything John Schneider and Mike Macdonald had said, the Seahawks traded Geno Smith to Pete Carroll’s Raiders on Friday.

They got a third-round pick (No. 92) in return – which all things considered was a solid payout. In fact, if Carroll had not returned to the NFL, we doubt there would have been a trade market for Smith. Carroll and the Raiders clearly coveted Smith enough to give up a Day 2 pick.

Here is how it all went down, based on various reliable national NFL reporters:

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Coaches, Contracts, State of the team, X's & O's

Hawks will extend Geno; Kubiak has ‘best vision’ for using DK

February 11, 2025 cc 1 Comment

While the Seahawks are certainly likely to move on from a few highly paid players, one thing has become very clear over the last couple of days: Geno Smith and DK Metcalf will be back in 2025.

Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak both emphasized Smith is Seattle’s quarterback and said they have big plans for Metcalf.

In an interview with FOX 13, Macdonald said Kubiak will “utilize the entire roster,” Smith can help the Seahawks win the Super Bowl and Metcalf will be the “main focal point” of the passing game.

Macdonald seemed to put all of the scuttlebutt about Smith and Metcalf to rest with his strong words about both. And NFL Network also reported on Super Bowl Sunday that the Hawks plan to give Smith a raise while keeping themselves “flexible” to acquiring a long-term quarterback.

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Coaches, Free agency, Trades

Carroll joining Raiders spices up offseason possibilities

January 26, 2025 cc Leave a comment

It is a surprise that some team wanted to hire a 73-year-old coach who fizzled out over his final three years in Seattle, but kudos to Pete Carroll for making an unexpected return to the NFL.

That now leads to natural questions about whether he might want to bring any of his former Seahawks players to Las Vegas. New Raiders GM John Spyvek, hired from Tampa Bay, will have a lot to say about that, of course.

The Raiders have plenty of roster needs, including quarterback, wide receiver and cornerback. The Hawks have three players at those spots whose names have been bandied about in trade speculation. Would Carroll have any interest in a reunion with Geno Smith, DK Metcalf or Riq Woolen?

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State of the team

Despite poor 2024, Schneider has built a solid core

January 22, 2025 cc 3 Comments

The Seahawks have missed the playoffs in three of the past four years and now have the fourth-longest drought from the NFC title game (12 teams have made it since they did in 2014), so fans and media have started to point the finger at John Schneider.

After a particularly bad 2024 in which the general manager missed on most of his free agents and put together the Seahawks’ worst offensive line since 2016, many are calling for his job.

But let’s be very clear: Jody Allen is not going to fire Schneider. Not when Mike Macdonald, the coach he just hired, led the Hawks to 10 wins in his first season by turning around a defense that had wallowed in the NFL’s depths in Pete Carroll’s last few seasons.

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