Geno Smith's future with the Seahawks is murkier than ever

Among the many changes that will inevitably come with an unexpected coaching change will be the fate of Geno Smith as the Seahawks' starting quarterback. Now that Pete Carroll is stepping aside and taking on a new role as an advisor, he will be losing one of his biggest supporters and the man who brought him to Seattle in the first place, which may not bode well for his future.

With a new head coach comes a new direction for the team, and that could mean Smith will be an odd man out. They go into the upcoming draft with the 16th overall pick, which isn't a prime position to get a new quarterback, but a few are expected to go beyond the top ten, if not lower.

If the new coach wants to start fresh, that could be an opportunity to do it. Or perhaps they go with a younger veteran quarterback set to hit free agency, something NFL insider Ian Rapoport speculated about recently when discussing Smith's future.

Will Geno Smith be the Seattle Seahawks QB1 in Week 1 of 2024?

"I think it's fair to say there's some questions on the offensive side of the ball, whether Geno Smith is going to continue as the starting quarterback. And with the new coach, what does this new coach want? Obviously (general manager) John Schneider is still there, but a new coach, especially if he's an offensive guy, is gonna come in and have a strong say on who is going to be the quarterback. Are they gonna draft one? Are they gonna look at a veteran option?"

Many questions will need to be answered depending on who is hired as the new head coach, which has been rumored to be Dan Quinn over the past few weeks. Regardless, the new coach often wants to make the team their own, and starting from the top is typically the way to go.

There's also the option of going with Drew Lock instead, who was pretty impressive during the couple of games he played last season in place of an injured Smith. He's only 27 years old and was once believed to be the next guy up for the Broncos and then for the Seahawks during the Russell Wilson trade.

That could be the case, depending on who is hired. But maybe they're also good with Smith, and I believe with a few tweaks to the offense in particular, he will get back to performing how he did when he took the team to the playoffs in 2022.

Unfortunately, we'll have to be patient when clarifying the situation as the Seahawks continue interviewing people for the position. But hopefully, we'll get a better picture sooner rather than later.

Read more from 12th Man Rising