In a span of three days, the Seattle Seahawks agreed to trade their Pro Bowl quarterback and wide receiver in exchange for a pair of Day 2 selections in the 2025 NFL Draft.
These moves would indicate that the Seahawks are tearing this down to the studs in Mike Macdonald’s second season as head coach, stockpiling assets to take a step back in the present while hoping to make a bigger leap toward contention in the future.
Nope.
The Seahawks plan to contend for a championship in 2025. And they believe they can do that without Geno Smith and DK Metcalf.
On Friday, they agreed to send Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for pick No. 92 in the draft. On Sunday, they agreed to send Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for pick No. 52. Those decisions were made on the heels of releasing Tyler Lockett in the name of cap space on Wednesday.
Losing these high-profile, productive players without netting even a top-50 draft pick is understandably a tough pill to swallow for many Seahawks fans. On the outside looking in, the Seahawks appear directionless, which is perhaps worse than looking like a team trying to rebuild.
But the Seahawks have a plan — it’s just one with a high degree of difficulty.
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Dugar: Whatever the Seahawks’ plan is after trading Geno Smith, it sure better work
Parts of the plan are obvious. The Seahawks want to be much better at running the ball. This is why Macdonald fired Ryan Grubb and hired Klint Kubiak, who brought with him multiple familiar assistants, including two with “run game” in their job titles. Seattle is pivoting to a wide-zone scheme, which Macdonald feels puts less of a burden on the offensive line by getting them on the move instead of attempting to merely move defensive linemen off their spot every snap. Running backs Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh can succeed in that scheme.
The offensive line must be addressed, and the Seahawks feel they’ve already taken strides in that regard by making changes to the staff. Offensive line coach John Benton, run game coordinator Rick Dennison and run game specialist Justin Outten are considered key additions to Kubiak’s staff in part because of their ability to identify and develop O-line talent that aligns with the scheme. The second part is important; Seattle has struggled mightily in that area in recent years.
The Seahawks are in good shape with left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abe Lucas. They’re both extension-eligible this offseason and can be locked up for the future (of note: Cross, who represented himself entering the draft, recently signed with Klutch Sports Agency). The new offensive coaches will be tasked with not only providing fresh eyes to Seattle’s evaluation process but also developing the young players on the roster, such as centers Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell and guards Christian Haynes, Anthony Bradford and Sataoa Laumea. Seattle needs at least one of these players to blossom into a starting-caliber offensive lineman.
That said, believing in the staff and banking on the development of young players does not mean the Seahawks will be inactive in free agency. Moving on from Metcalf, Lockett and Smith cleared nearly $60 million in salary-cap space, according to Over the Cap. Even after agreeing to re-sign defensive tackle Jarran Reed and linebacker Ernest Jones IV, the team has plenty of cap room to acquire a veteran quarterback and upgrade the trenches.
To be clear, the Seahawks could have upgraded the offensive line without trading Metcalf and Smith, but they’re now in a better position to bid for players at the top of the market, if they so choose.
This free-agent roadmap includes some players Seattle should target this week. Center Drew Dalman and guard Will Fries are two of the top 15 free agents available, according to The Athletic’s top 150 rankings. Both are expected to have strong markets because of how many teams need competent interior offensive linemen. Seattle should be in on those players, but even if general manager John Schneider swings and misses at the top of the market, there will be other affordable veterans who would make the offensive line better.
The wide receiver options aren’t as good, though the Seahawks aren’t necessarily as desperate for veteran bodies there as they are up front, even though Jake Bobo is the only wideout under contract who caught a pass last season besides Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Kubiak’s scheme will likely lean on two-receiver sets as opposed to the 11 personnel world Seattle has lived in the past two years.
The emergence of Smith-Njigba as a No. 1 receiver means the Seahawks likely see themselves in need of a player with a complementary skill set — like speed — as opposed to another complete, coverage-dictating pass catcher. This sort of player could, in theory, be acquired for less than $30 million per year and without a first-round pick (there are 12 receivers on Dane Brugler’s top 100 big board).
On paper, these parts of Seattle’s plan make sense. But here’s where the degree of difficulty comes in: Can the current regime be trusted to nail every part of that plan in one offseason while downgrading at quarterback?
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The Seahawks are targeting Sam Darnold as their next quarterback, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. Darnold might not cost as much as Smith, whose new deal with the Raiders might exceed $40 million annually, but he won’t be rookie-contract cheap, either.
Darnold had a better season than Smith in 2024, but when evaluating the respective bodies of work since leaving the New York Jets — and the circumstances under which they’ve played — it’s hard to call Darnold the better player. Darnold had one of the most quarterback-friendly situations in the league last year between play caller, offensive line, skill talent and defense — and still fell off down the stretch when it mattered. Although Seattle’s skill talent has been great, Smith has never played behind even an average offensive line, and his last two offensive coordinators weren’t good enough to keep their jobs.
Few teams get better when employing a lesser quarterback. But one way to do so is to provide the new guy with an elite support system. Whether the Seahawks roll with Darnold, another veteran or a rookie in 2025, they must make sure they hit on every aspect of building a supporting cast. Run game, pass protection, play calling, defense, special teams — it all must fall into place just for the Seahawks to be competitive in the NFC West, let alone contend for the Lombardi Trophy in 2025.
Possessing cap space and draft picks doesn’t guarantee success. A pick in the second round could become Frank Clark … or Dee Eskridge. A third-round pick could become Abe Lucas … or Naz Jones. A dice roll on a pricey free agent could turn out like Uchenna Nwosu … or Dre’Mont Jones. The same front office made all of those moves, and many others that put the franchise in the perennial position of competing but not contending.
Assets are only as valuable as the people tasked with allocating them. Is a new coaching staff and more cap space than usual enough for Seattle’s decision-makers to shoot a higher percentage from the field this offseason?
That is the multimillion-dollar question in Seattle. This isn’t about a teardown or trying to punt the last of Pete Carroll’s guys from the locker room (re-signing Reed disputes that second point, anyway). Nor is this about Seattle not knowing what it wants to be in 2025 and beyond. The Seahawks know where they want to go. They’re just comfortable taking a new route to get there.
The real question is whether the same front office that played a role in necessitating all this retooling — or recalibrating, or whatever they want to call these shake-ups — can aid Macdonald in achieving the franchise’s ultimate goal.
(Photo of Geno Smith, left, and DK Metcalf: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
