by Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith, a rising free agent this offseason, categorized contract talks with the team as “very good lookingabout a month ago. However, with Seattle holding a top-five pick for first in the Pete Carroll-John Schneider era (since 2010), the head coach and general manager are excited for the opportunity to potentially pick one of the 2023s The best passers of the NFL draft.
“We’re totally connected to the quarterbacks that are coming out,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told ESPN Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “This is a really big opportunity for us. It’s a rare opportunity. We’ve been drawing in the low 20’s for so long. You just don’t get a chance with these guys. So we’re deeply involved in all of that.”
The only reason the Seahawks, a playoff team in 2022, is picking fifth overall is their trade with the Broncos, who lost their longtime Face-of-the-Franchise quarterback Russell Wilson in exchange for three players (QB Drew Lock, TE Noah Fant, and DL Shelby Harris) along with five draft picks (two first, two second, and one fifth). The Broncos went 5-12 in Wilson’s freshman year at Denver, a season in which Wilson had career lows in graduation rate (60.5%), passing touchdowns (15), and passer rating (84.4).
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The last time the Seahawks finished in the top five was in 2009 when they picked Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry fourth overall. Carroll and Schneider joined the franchise the following season. Reaching the postseason 10 times in 13 years has prevented them from picking in a realistic place to land a draft’s highest-paid quarterback prospect. The front office conducts its due diligence on the design’s top passers-by on this rare occasion.
“A lot,” Schneider said at the combine when asked how much the Seahawks are digging into the upcoming crop of quarterbacks. “Honestly, we look at a lot every year. As I said, we haven’t picked fifth overall since we’ve been here. So yeah, I came out this year to see a lot of quarterbacks. It was pretty funny. But honestly, we’ve tried that every year, and we’ve tried to add quarterbacks.
However, if the team picks a quarterback, that player may need to sit behind Smith, who has had a career year in which he set the Seahawks’ season records for completion percentage (69.8%) and passing yards (4,282).
Geno Smith’s 2022 season
| NFL rank | ||
|---|---|---|
|
completion percentage |
69.8%* |
1 |
|
shipyards happen |
4,282* |
8th |
|
pass TD |
30 |
4 |
|
passer rating |
100.9 |
5 |
* Seahawks single-season record
Schneider agreed with Smith’s assessment that the contract negotiations have struck the right tone, a positive one.
“I would say it’s always a process,” said Schneider on Tuesday. “Close? I would say ‘positive’. All these negotiations, some go a little faster than others. When it comes to larger numbers, they usually take a bit longer. Obviously much more complex than (in) different sports with guaranteed contracts. There’s a lot more that goes into these contracts.”
In addition to their two first-round picks, fifth overall and 20th overall, the Seahawks also own an additional second-round pick from Denver, giving them plenty of ammunition to trade even if the right deal comes up. When asked about the logic of taking a top-five quarterback while also re-signing Smith, Schneider stressed the importance of the league’s most valuable position.
“Because they (quarterbacks) don’t grow on trees,” Schneider said. “It’s probably the hardest position to find a talent, a guy that everyone feels very safe in.”
Regardless of the Seahawks being able to pick a quarterback they feel safe in, they can sleep easy knowing they have it a lot of design capital Make significant improvements up and down their roster.
