The Seattle Seahawks are through three rounds of the 2025 NFL draft, and so far, general manager John Schneider is hot. He has picked arguably the best interior offensive lineman available, a Kam Chancellor clone, a tight end in a wide receiver body, and all of those picks could be immediately impactful.
But the team also finished off the remnants of the Geno Smith trade in round three as well. Smith, of course, was a three-year starter for the Seahawks and not a bad quarterback. But he is also in his mid-30s and wanted more guaranteed money in a contract extension than the Seahawks tried to pay him.
He requested a trade the week before free agency began, and Schneider obliged him. The quarterback was shipped to the Las Vegas Raiders, where he will be reunited with former Seahawks head coach (and now the head coach for Las Vegas) Pete Carroll. Smith is happier, and so should Seattle be.
Seahawks put finishing touches on Geno Smith trade by choosing Jalen Milroe in 2025 draft
A vocally unhappy QB1 is not good for a team's culture, so it made sense not to have Smith around a roster that is getting ever younger. But all Seattle got in return for Smith was a third-round choice. That pick turned out to be another quarterback, Jalen Milroe.
The Alabama product needs to work on his accuracy, but he can run like Lamar Jackson. He needs to develop for a season or two, but he could become a dual-threat quarterback, the kind that the Seahawks have never truly had.
Seahawks receive:
- 2025 third-round pick, number 92 overall (player name)
Raiders receive:
- Quarterback Geno Smith
As divisive as Smith is, he will probably make the Raiders a better team. He is an accurate passer with a strong arm. He makes far too many red-zone errors, sure, but he is going to win more games than he loses. He is also usually excellent when the game is tight in the late stages.
If Pete Carroll runs Las Vegas the same way he did the Seahawks, Carroll and his new team are going to play a lot of close games. That means Smith will need to be on point in fourth quarters. He can do that, but the Seahawks are still better off without him.