Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith reportedly asked the team to trade him this week after contract extension talks broke down with general manager John Schneider and others of Seattle's front office. The quarterback seemingly wanted a new deal that paid him at least $40 million a season, and Seattle did not want to pay that.
One of the first calls Schneider seemingly made was to the Las Vegas Raiders. It made sense. Las Vegas had hired former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll to be their head coach this offseason. Carroll and the Seahawks still had a good relationship, and Geno Smith has always been a big fan of his former coach.
Carroll, though, does not make the moves with the Raiders like he did with Seattle. He is the head coach. Las Vegas is partially owned by future Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Brady, and its general manager is John Spytek. Maybe Carroll would have more easily gone along with what Schneider offered, but the rest of the Raiders brass? Not so much.
Seattle Seahawks rebuffed by Las Vegas Raiders in initial Geno Smith trade talks
The main issue is that Schneider apparently went all in on what he hoped he could get back from the Raiders. In exchange for Geno Smith, the Seahawks' general manager wanted edge rusher Maxx Crosby. Las Vegas not only said "no," they said a quick "no," according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
The Seahawks opened trade discussions with the Raiders with this blockbuster proposal—Geno Smith and DK Metcalf to Vegas for Maxx Crosby. Vegas QUICKLY shot that down, and told Seattle that Crosby was not available.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 8, 2025
But talks continued, and led to Geno becoming a Raider.
Perhaps Schneider knew he could never get Crosby, but it was worth asking. After all, Seattle is clearly going to try to remake the team into one that is driven by how good the new head coach Mike Macdonald's defense is. Adding Crosby, an edge rusher who has had at least 10 sacks in three of his six seasons in the league, made sense. Las Vegas wanted to keep him, though.
In fact, Crosby turned out to be more important to the Raiders than Geno Smith was to the Seahawks. In the end, Seattle received only a third-round choice for the quarterback. One has to wonder if Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf will wind up with the Raiders and Pete Carroll, too, though Las Vegas will probably have to give up more for the receiver.
Seattle, even if Metcalf stays on the team and isn't traded, is starting over offensively. Schneider is now firmly on the hot seat after not having the best offseason (a poor draft and a poor free-agent class) last year and trading the team's quarterback this year. If things go south in 2025, the fault is nearly completely Schneider's.