Who will be the QB for the Seattle Seahawks next season?
Going into this season, the Seattle Seahawks did not expect Geno Smith to perform at such an elite level. The Seahawks used their three pre-season games to test out both of their quarterbacks: Geno Smith and Drew Lock. Safe to say, the Seahawks made the right decision on who would start for them. But with an aging quarterback on an expiring contract, do the Seahawks look to the draft / free agency for a younger quarterback? Or do they re-sign Geno and give him one more shot?
Geno Smith first joined the Seahawks in 2019. Although he was on the team for a while, he was mainly there to back up Russell Wilson. It wasn’t until after Wilson got traded to the Denver Broncos that the Seahawks considered Smith to be their starter. In the Wilson trade, the Seahawks also acquired quarterback Drew Lock. With Lock being younger and less experienced, there was a conversation about giving him the job to see if he could continue his development, but when Geno outplayed him in the pre-season, it was quite obvious who would be able to take the team the farthest.
Geno Smith’s stats this season so far: 3,671 yards, 71.4% completion percentage, 26 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a QBR of 63.2. Smith’s performance has done enough to help bring the team to 7-7, which is exceeding the expectations most people had from them this season. But Geno Smith is also 32 years old, and this is the first season he has been playing at such an elite level. So the question is: how long can Smith keep this up? Will the Seahawks’ front office keep him? Or do they find a younger quarterback who can develop along with the rest of Seattle's young core?
Well, there are quite a few routes the Seahawks can take. They could re-sign Geno to a short-term deal and hope he continues to play at this level, but with the draft capital they have this off-season, do they take a quarterback in the draft? The Seahawks are projected to have a top-five draft pick. They could go with Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud, or they could go the defensive route by taking Will Anderson, Jalen Carter, or one of the other impressive defensive linemen.
One thing Seattle lacks is the ability to stop the run game, so Jalen Carter could be the answer defensively for them if he is available. But will they really pass up on Heisman finalist CJ Stroud? If they do take Stroud with their early first-round pick, the Seahawks would still have cap space to sign Smith if he is not asking for a boatload of money. Next season they could give Geno one more shot at a playoff run while also giving Stroud time to develop behind a veteran quarterback. So the only question that remains is, what will the Seattle Seahawks do?