My apologies if you think the title of this article doesn’t offer enough respect towards Geno Smith, and his time quarterbacking for the Seahawks. I do not mean this piece as a disrespect towards him, at all.

In fact, I deeply appreciate what Geno did carrying on for Russell Wilson after Seattle made that other shocking trade away of their other starting quarterback. In that opening season match against Denver, he absolutely won me over as a fan, and I have stayed pretty loyal towards him defending him countless times against fans who, for whatever reason, felt he was a horrible quarterback (he wasn’t, not even close).

During the 2022, when he was torching up defenses for a month or so, I had so many visions of grandeur that Seattle had found their Rich Gannon, a long time NFL journeyman quarterback who found his game late, and played hot for a number of years. I was happy to see him extended on an affordable three year contract, and while his play in 2023 and 2024 didn’t totally match his performance of 2022, I still thought he played reasonably well enough to stay the starter here.

But not all fans have thought as warmly about Geno Smith as I have. Some have been downright horrible towards him, and I felt this growing significantly last season.

I was at four home games last season, Seattle lost all four, and in my sections, I saw vitriol directed towards Geno Smith unlike anything I have ever seen against Russ on a bad Sunday, Hasselbeck, Rick Mirer, or even Dave Krieg. With each game, it felt like it got worse.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I didn’t love his red zone interceptions that happened this year. Honestly, I think he cost us the game against the Rams, and the game against the Vikings with Sam Darnold (more on him in a minute), and both of those were very winnable matches for Seattle. It was painful walking out of Lumen Field after both games knowing that we could have pulled them off, but didn’t, and Geno had played a big part in those losses.

But I also know that Geno Smith was not helped much by coordinator at the time Ryan Grubb. Way too often, Geno was left looking way downfield on third and manageable plays with no outlet receiver to dump off to against pressure sent. Honestly, the Grubb offense felt like a college offense going against pro defenses. It was full of half field reads, it lacked desired creativity, and consistency. Geno might have thrown a lot of red zone picks, but I don’t think Grubb knew how to effectively play call against NFL red zone defenses, either, and that is why he was quickly fired at the end of the season.

On one level, it is a shame that we won’t see Geno Smith in this new Klint Kubiak offense. I think he likely would have fit it really well. Kubiak lives off of play action passing, and Geno is a very gifted play action passer. For me, it is a bit of a bummer we didn’t get to see him bounce back here in 2025 with a better season.

But I get the business of the NFL, I really do. I think most fans don’t realize how difficult it is to be a successful NFL GM. You have 53 players you have to fill out a roster with in a league that plays 17 regular season games, and it almost always is a war of attrition each year through the coarse of these long seasons. Professional football is a hyper violent sport, and the teams who make the playoffs either catch enough breaks with avoiding a lot of injuries, or they are just simply deep enough throughout their roster construction to overcome them. A good GM has got to see the bigger picture every single day.

Geno Smith has been a good, mostly reliable starting quarterback that past few years. If he was 28 years old, I would say “by all means, John Schneider, pay him what he wants.”

But Geno is about to turn 35 years old in October, and paying him $45 million a year through 2028 when he would be 38 years old just feels way too risky and rich for my blood. Apparently, it did for John Schneider, as well.

Also, if Geno Smith was more universally loved by the fans of this team, I would probably feel very differently about this trade, but I know he is not universally adored. I think the fanbase grew to be really split down the middle with him in 2024, and I think another big extension of Geno would have been a really hard sell on about half of the fanbase.

I was at the last game the Seahawks played in 2024 at home, I was up pretty close to the Seahawk bench, and I watched Geno get into a yelling match with an angry fan. It was not a great look.

In fact, it was a terrible look, in my opinion, and while I know there are fans of his that probably applauded his feistiness in the heat of the moment, I just thought to myself that it wasn’t acceptable for a QB1 to do that, at all. I am sure Matt Hasslebeck, Warren Moon, Krieg, and Jim Zorn heard all kinds of shit from drunk fans in the stands, and they let it slide. It comes with the job.

But there were other job related things that Geno did really well in Seattle. Generally, he was a very accurate passer, and he threw a beautiful deep ball. Over the past three seasons, he has been one of the best fourth quarterback come back winning quarterbacks in the game. He also almost always played well in a muddied pocket, staying strong, moving to avoid sacks and still getting off accurate passes. These are things that he was pretty good at, and that is why I think it is just goofy whenever I see someone say that he sucks. It quite literally looks like they just don’t know ball, and they want someone else as the Seahawks quarterback who isn’t Geno Smith.

Well, now they have their wish. Hopefully, they are kinder to the next starter if he is able to also provide capable QB play on Sundays.

For the record, I think Vegas is a great fit for Geno Smith, and I expect him to do well there for the next few years. It is not because Pete Carroll is there either, welcoming him with a warm loving embrace. I suspect Tom Brady’s presence will have a positive effect on him, and I think he’s a really good system fit for Chip Kelly who now utilizes more pro style play action passing than ever before. He’s also going to have an incredibly bright young tight end to throw at, and if Tyler Lockett joins, I think they can be competitive this year.

As, for the Seattle Seahawks, I absolutely believe that this was the right call. Geno Smith is not likely the long term answer here at QB1, and therefore, there is very little need to pay him as such.

Seattle was interested in $35 million APY, not the $45 million he wanted. They probably also weren’t very interested in a bunch of guarantees tied into future years where if they drafted a young quarterback that they liked a lot, it would be harder to move Geno off the cap in 2026 or 2027 when they would be ready for the youngster to take over. I believe Seattle was looking to sign Geno to another team friendly deal in order to go year to year with him until they could find a younger alternative, and he wanted a larger commitment than they were willing to offer.

And I would also say this; if you are to pay a soon to be 35 year old quarterback that kind of money, and there is a soon to be 28 year old quarterback on the free agent market who is basically a younger version of him, doesn’t it make some sense to go after the younger fella, instead? I sorta think it is.

Of course by this, you probably can guess I am referring to Sam Darnold, and the reports that Seattle is now interested in him. Well, I am. Let’s talk for a moment about Sam.

If news breaks on Monday or Tuesday that the Seahawks and Sam Darnold have agreed to basically the same deal that they were offering Geno Smith, I would be pretty damn happy about that. I have been actively pontificating on this blog for months now about Seattle bringing in Darnold.

For me, I think Sam Darnold is essentially a seven year younger version of Geno Smith. I think he’s got similar arm talent, and similar abilities as a play action quarterback, and therefore, I think he’s potentially a really solid fit for this Kubiak scheme (which he has played in). A three year Baker Mayfield type of deal would satisfy me greatly, if Darnold were to sign it here for that.

And I get it if that would not wow you, and you would treat that news with skepticism, and maybe disappointment. Maybe you would be a more of a Justin Fields fan, or there’s someone in the draft that you would rather see. I would understand that.

But for me, I just look at system fit, age, and timelines. Sam Darnold, for me, kinda feels right for Seattle with where they are right now with these new coaches, and youth on the roster. He’s seasoned, and it feels like potentially he is really coming into his own as a passer. I think Darnold is a worthy gamble, and maybe more so than any of the quarterbacks in the draft this year, and there is a few I like.

I also think that Seattle signing Darnold would not prevent them from drafting a quarterback if one they fell in love with fell to this in April, or within the next few years. I just simply view him potentially as a younger safety net QB1, which is basically how I viewed Geno over the past three season.

Anyhoo, these are kind of my thoughts on the potential of Darnold in Seattle right now. Back to Geno Smith.

I really, truly, deeply appreciate Geno, and his time spent in Seattle. I have enjoyed rooting for his success. It was fun seeing him come out of nowhere and surprise us with his play, and I really do wish him well in Vegas.

I also know that this coming draft class is especially deep at defensive tackle, tight end, running back, and there are some really good interior offensive linemen prospects. Seattle can use that third round pick from Vegas to get a really special player on the defensive line, or a really talented tight end, or offensive guard. They can flush out this roster with physical players so that Mike Macdonald better see his vision through with his guys, and not Pete Carroll holdovers.

Because of this, I really do think this was a good deal for Seattle, no matter what the negative narrative is right now around this team. I don’t think this is necessarily any rebuild mode they are entering. It proved not to be that when they traded Russell Wilson, and therefore, I don’t think it should be viewed that way now.

But let’s see where we are in all of this in a week of the first wave of free agency where Seattle now has the seventh best cap space to shop. Fans could be looking at this thing very differently if in a week’s time Seattle has signed Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, center Drew Dalman, and guard Aaron Banks. All of these guys fit the Kubiak scheme, and then there’s the draft to consider. This could be just beginning of a really cool offseason.

Here is one final other tidbit I want to throw at you. Over the course of these last few days, there have been whispers around the Seahawks about how strained of relationship DK Metcalf and Geno Smith had with each other over the past couple seasons. In fact, there is enough noise around this that I wouldn’t be totally surprised if, with Geno now shipped out, DK has a change of heart, and is more willing to stay. In fact, I would not be completely shocked if this proves true, and he sticks around on a new deal. We shall see soon enough.

Things to think about, at least.

Go Hawks.