Geno Smith is still the guy for the Seattle Seahawks, at least for the moment. Last week the team kept Smith on the roster, allowing his base salary for the 2024 season ($12.7 million) to become fully guaranteed. While that may seem like an indication Seattle intends to keep Smith and start him Week 1, the details matter and facts are that Smith is now much more tradeable than he was at this time last week.
The first report of the decision came from ESPN’s Adam Schefter and his follow-up tweet after the initial report was very revealing, essentially inviting teams to call the Seahawks with offers if they’re interested in trading for Geno.
There’s not usually a huge market for 33 year-old quarterbacks, but the way Smith has played over the last two seasons might be enough to convince some organizations that they can make a deep playoff run with him, provided they have the proper supporting cast.
With that in mind, we set out to find teams around the NFL that already have solid rosters and won at least seven games last season, but could use an upgrade at the quarterback position. Using those guidelines we identified six teams that should at least give John Schneider a call.
1
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
The Steelers have a stout defense and a strong run game, as the Seahawks learned to their doom in Week 17. However, with Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph in the backfield Pittsburgh has arguably the worst quarterback room in the league. Adding Smith would instantly make the Steelers offense far more well-rounded and take some of that incredible pressure off their defense. That may not be enough to win a brutal AFC North where every team is a contender, but it would make them far more competitive than they are right now.
2
Las Vegas Raiders (8-9)
The Raiders predictably collapsed under Josh McDaniels but showed a lot of fight after Antonio Davis took over as head coach. Now that Jimmy Garoppolo is on his way out, they’ll be looking for a new starter and could do a whole lot worse than Geno. The Vegas offense features some very talented skill players like Davante Adams and (maybe) Josh Jacobs. If they changed literally nothing else, adding Smith would instantly make them a playoff team. If they were to also build up the receiver corps around Adams it might make them a contender.
3
Atlanta Falcons (7-10)
Atlanta had one of the most-exciting rosters in the NFL last year, but Arthur Smith hitched his ship to the wrong QB and it sank. Now with Raheem Morris in charge the Falcons should be looking to add the final piece of the puzzle. In Atlanta Geno Smith would get to work with the best running back room in football, plus other promising pieces like Drake London and Kyle Pitts. With No. 7 starting, the Falcons would crush a relatively weak NFC South and might push as far as the divisional round as soon as 2024.
4
Denver Broncos (8-9)
Two years ago, the Seahawks fleeced the Broncos in the Russell Wilson trade. They’re unlikely to get a home run haul like that in any deal for Geno Smith, but facts are that Denver is once again in need of a QB1. Wilson is likely to get cut any day now, opening a spot at the top of their depth chart. The Broncos still have a strong roster overall and Smith seems far better suited to run the kind of offense that Sean Payton wants to than Russ.
5
New Orleans Saints (9-8)
The Saints may think they already have their franchise QB in Derek Carr, but if that’s the case then New Orleans isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Carr’s conservative, checkdown instincts hit bottom in 2023 and the Saints offense with it. A more aggressive quarterback like Geno Smith could work wonders for a unit that has some interesting pieces like Chris Olave and a better offensive line than he had in Seattle.
6
San Francisco 49ers (12-5)
The Seahawks definitely will not trade Smith to a division rival. However, the truth is that the only reason these 49ers haven’t won multiple Super Bowls is because they haven’t found a quarterback who can both run Kyle Shanahan’s offense and think on their feet without spontaneously decombusting the way Jimmy Garoppolo and Brock Purdy tend to do. San Franciso’s offense features the league’s best playcaller, best running back, best tight end, best left tackle and two of the best wide receivers. Change nothing else but subbing out Purdy and plugging in Smith and you have a team that’s ready to challenge the Kansas City dynasty.
7
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