Why Seahawks kicking tires on Jimmy Garoppolo are meaningless

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said this week the Seahawks have had internal conversations about adding Jimmy Garoppolo. What does this mean?

Well, for one, we need to remember this is the Seahawks Fowler is talking about. Since 2010, general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll have been open to nearly anything. There is nothing that Seattle wouldn’t entertain if Schneider and Carroll thought a certain move would make the team better.

This explains the Russell Wilson trade this offseason as well. Maybe moving Wilson doesn’t make the team better this year. Seattle will likely be worse in 2021 than in many previous seasons. But by 2023 and beyond? Seattle could be back to championship-level with the right decisions on draft picks and free agent signings.

Seahawks very unlikely to add quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

This is where current 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo comes in. Fowler said that Seattle “has done its homework” and has had “internal discussions” about bringing in Garoppolo to possibly be the quarterback this year.

The “internal discussions” part is key. Internal means Seahawks brass has talked amongst themselves about what adding Jimmy G might mean. If Fowler had said that Seattle had had discussions with the 49ers about trading for Garoppolo then we’d have some real news. Internal discussions mean nothing other than the team is looking at all options which Schneider and Carroll always do,

For one thing, having an intradivision trade for a starting quarterback is weird. Seattle would have a good idea of how Garoppolo could help the team but the 49ers would have an excellent idea of how to beat Seattle and Garoppolo.

Secondly, the Seahawks aren’t going to take on a lot of Garoppolo’s $25 million contract. That would be dumb. San Francisco would have to eat a lot of Garoppolo’s money and that seems unlikely when giving the quarterback to another NFC West team. Why would Seattle want to help out the 49ers by saving them money as well?

The bottom line is that the Seahawks are very unlikely to add Jimmy Garoppolo unless he is released by the 49ers. But even then why would Seattle add Garoppolo when they had no interest in adding Baker Mayfield? 12s should just get used to the idea of Geno Smith and/or Drew Lock leading the offense in 2022.