The Seattle Seahawks relieved Pete Carroll of his coaching duties after the 2023 season. He had been the team's most successful head coach in franchise history, but the team was also stuck in mediocrity. This was also Carroll's fault, as he had final say over all the roster moves.
One of those moves included elevating Geno Smith from long-time backup to starting quarterback. Carroll trusted Smith, and maybe no one else did. As it turns out, Smith might value loyalty as much as Carroll did because the quarterback was happy to be traded this offseason from Seattle to the coach's new team, the Las Vegas Raiders.
But even though Carroll was no longer the coach of the Seahawks in 2024, it appears that when Smith would get frustrated by his play or the direction of the offense, he would turn to Carroll to vent. The former head coach was still employed with Seattle as an "advisor," but only because he had a guaranteed contract with the team that ran through 2024.
Former Seahawks Pete Carroll and Geno Smith should be happy together with the Raiders
In most situations, if an organization were to demote a leader but a key employee kept going to the demoted manager instead of seeking advice from the new boss, this might be seen as a massive sign of disrespect to the new boss. In Smith's case, he appears to have been unhappy with the team, so he likely did not care about how his relationship with Carroll appeared.
According to Albert Breer with MMQB, Smith was unhappy with the team because he lacked a contract extension. The quarterback also felt the Seahawks were trying to build around their young corps, potentially not wanting to overpay Smith to disrupt that flow. Of course, the team would have needed a quarterback soon because Smith is now in his mid-30s.
Smith said, "Mike (Macdonald) was good for us, and I really enjoyed being with him for that season. But again, man, when you’re talking about business, and you’re talking about a quarterback who wants not only to get paid—every player wants to get paid—but to be respected, that’s the most important thing. It’s the respect factor."
So with Smith, money equals respect and not necessarily how he was being treated by the team. This implies that he was focused more on his own happiness than the team overall. It is telling that not many current Seahawks took to social media to voice their displeasure with Smith being traded.
It is also telling that Mike Macdonald has raved about the leadership qualities that new quarterback Sam Darnold brings.
In an interview with SiriusXM NFL radio, the head coach said, "I'm most excited about the person, the leader, the teammate, that guy that we get to work with every day. I think he's in a great spot from our conversations. I think he's energized, he's driven and just like the rest of us in the building, so he's going to fit right in."
That was meant as no disrespect to Smith, but more about praising Darnold, but there might be a hidden meaning there. Darnold is seven years younger than Smith and might be better for the locker room than the often volatile Smith was.
Everyone should be better off, though. The Seahawks got a quarterback they think is an excellent fit on the young roster. Smith gets to rejoin Carroll with the Raiders. Neither of the last two will ever return to Seattle.