Geno Smith is on the move to reunite with former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll in Las Vegas after the Seattle Seahawks dealt him to the Raiders in exchange for a 2025 3rd round draft pick. Here’s why Seattle GM John Schneider made the move:
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Price
Smith and his camp were reportedly looking for a deal in the $45 million/per year range, while Seattle was hoping to retain Geno for no more than $35 million per year. After his infamous “I didn’t write back” season, Geno Smith signed a 3 year, $75,000,000 contract with Seattle, including $40,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $25,000,000. In 2025, Smith will earn a base salary of $14,800,000, a roster bonus of $16,000,000 and a workout bonus of $200,000, while carrying a cap hit of $31,000,000- which will now go against the Raiders salary cap.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1898163749250376137
Age
While Smith hasn’t necessarily showed any signs of slowing down; rather, he appears to just be getting started- the Seahawks looked at the situation two ways. A- they could give the 34-year-old $45 million a year, or trade him for a 3rd round pick and target Sam Darnold in free agency where the market appears to have Darnold set to make around $35-38 million. So, a 34-year-old aging QB for $45 million, or a 27-year-old QB with potential for $10 million less and a third round pick. When you put it that way, it actually seems like a reasonable idea. Of course, this hinges on Schneider’s ability to actually convince Darnold to sign in Seattle for that price.
Geno Smith is 18-14, with a pro bowl in the last 2 years. He’s thrown for 8,000 yards and 41 touchdowns, to just 24 interceptions. It’s hard to find this in the NFL. It’s impossible in the 3rd round of this draft.
The Raiders just got better. The Seahawks, substantially worse. https://t.co/SrdVs1LsyL
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) March 8, 2025
Scheme fit
Smith has had success in Seattle under multiple coaching regimes and offensive playbooks. Last year, former Washington Huskies offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb earned the job as Seahawks OC, and while expectations were high for a pass-heavy offence, Grubb’s system didn’t mesh with HC Mike Macdonald’s overall philosophy and we ended up seeing that in the on-field product much throughout the season. Seattle hired former Saints OC Klint Kubiak after Grubb’s departure in 2025, which is designed to be a run-first offence, and Smith decided his talents would be put to better use elsewhere and requested a trade.
Geno Smith was inarguably one of the most impressive QBs in the NFL last year on film. https://t.co/jSUISFS55H
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) March 8, 2025
So, while Seattle has had a crazy handful of days as they near offseason free agency, trading Geno Smith to the Raiders may present a new opportunity for the Seahawks’ direction under 2nd year HC Mike Macdonald as he rebuilds his team the way he envisions.