So long, Geno Smith. The Seattle Seahawks traded their starting quarterback of the last three seasons to the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday. The move will reunite Smith with his former Seattle coach, Pete Carroll. The move is seemingly a wise one for the Raiders, but what do the Seahawks do now at quarterback?
The answer is unlikely to be 2024 backup Sam Howell. He was, unfortunately, horrible in his limited time last season. He was the starter for the Washington Commanders in 2023, but the team gave up on him after one season and upgraded by trading Jayden Daniels. Howell threw 21 touchdowns in 2023, but he also had 21 interceptions.
The draft class of quarterbacks in 2025 is fairly weak, too. Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders appear to be the top two QBs on the board, but only Ward is seen as a truly high-end performer in the league. He will be gone before Seattle has a chance to choose him unless the Seahawks could trade up in the draft high enough to get Ward, which is unlikely.
Seattle Seahawks appear to be focused on chasing quarterback Sam Darnold in free agency
There is a chance that Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart is around when Seattle makes its first-round choice (scheduled for number 18 overall), but Dart does not seem ready to immediately handle QB1 duties in the NFL. He needs at least a year to learn, but if Seattle chooses Dart, who would be learning from?
According to FOX Sports' Jordan Schultz, Seattle really wants that to be Minnesota Vikings free agent Sam Darnold. Seattle has the cap space now to try to sign Darnold, but is that the correct move? Darnold is a one-year wonder in the league but mostly failed in his previous six seasons.
Sources: The #Seahawks, after trading Geno Smith to the #Raiders, have shifted their primary focus to Sam Darnold. He is their No. 1 option, and there is mutual interest on his behalf as well.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 8, 2025
It is highly unlikely that Darnold returns to the #Vikings, according to multiple… pic.twitter.com/otbTOj3hTh
Prior to 2024, Darnold had a career touchdown-to-interception ratio of 63/56. That is not good. His win-loss record prior to this past season was 21-35. In Geno Smith's seasons with Seattle, he had an interception-per-pass percentage of only 2.1. Darbold's career number is 2.9, and even in his good 2024 season, Darnold's interception rate was higher than Smith's overall number with the Seahawks.
Darnold also failed to prove he could play well in the postseason. The Vikings were bounced out in the Wild Card round of the 2024 playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams 27-9, and the quarterback completed 25 of his 40 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception.
This came a week after the Vikings were destroyed by the Detroit Lions 31-9 in the final game of the regular season. In that game, Darnold completed just 19 of 41 passes for 166 yards. Those games were not a good way to end the season.
Whichever team Darnold plays for in 2025 will be his fifth team in eight seasons. He has not done well enough at any stop except for his season with a well-coached Minnesota team (and one that has Justin Jefferson at wide receiver) to prove he can be worth taking a chance on as a starter. If he replaces Geno Smith with the Seahawks, Darnold is as likely to completely fail as succeed, and the team would fail right along with him.