NFL rumors: Seahawks could be trading up for a Geno Smith replacement

The Seattle Seahawks could potentially trade up from No. 5 to draft Geno Smith’s replacement.

No doubt about it, the Seattle Seahawks are in a terrific spot picking near the top of the NFL Draft.

For a team that many pundits thought were to be tanking, Seattle qualified for the playoffs in Geno Smith’s long overdue breakout season. To make things even better, the Denver Broncos were an unmitigated disaster with Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett at the helm. Hackett couldn’t hack it, while Wilson looks like the most washed 30-something a football field could ever provide.

So while Seattle has the Broncos’ pick at No. 5, there is a chance they could move up even higher to draft Smith’s eventual successor in former Florida star Anthony Richardson.

Tony Pauline of the Pro Football Network reported the Seahawks could trade up to No. 3 in a deal with the Arizona Cardinals to take Richardson.

“Speculation from league insiders during Florida’s pro day is the Seattle Seahawks could be the team that leapfrogs the Indianapolis Colts and trades up with the Arizona Cardinals to secure Richardson. Several reasons were given.”

While I have no doubts that the Seahawks could be interested in drafting Richardson in the top five, as well as having good reasons to, the Cardinals are the wrong trade partner for them here.

Let’s discuss if Richardson would actually work in Seattle, or he is a total boom or bust prospect.

Seattle Seahawks may trade up to replace Geno Smith with Anthony Richardson

Seattle is one of a few teams picking inside of the top 10 because of another franchise’s incompetence. Simply put, teams like the Seahawks, the Detroit Lions picking at No. 6 and the Philadelphia Eagles picking at No. 10 can afford to take bigger swings with their first first-round draft selection because it used to belong to somebody else. This helps offset the Richardson risk.

Pete Carroll may be a defensive-minded head coach, but the football culture he has built over the last two decades is incredibly strong. General manager John Schneider tends to gravitate towards freak specimen athletes, such as D.K. Metcalf. Richardson certainly fits the bill. While he is not ready to start games this year, he can learn and grow under Smith and Shane Waldron’s guidance.

Look. It would probably serve Seattle to get a player in the defensive front-seven at No. 5, but I wouldn’t blame them for taking a flier on Richardson there either. However, even the dysfunctional Cardinals are not that stupid to trade with them. While it may serve them to move back from No. 3 in a top-heavy quarterback draft, they cannot let a potential star like Richardson go to a rival team.

Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the three other potential trade partners picking ahead of them all need quarterbacks in the Carolina Panthers at No. 1, the Houston Texans at No. 2 and the Indianapolis Colts at No. 4. And as weird as it sounds, the most likely trade partner of that trio would have to be Carolina. Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer used to work for Schneider…

Ultimately, I can’t really envision a scenario where Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and now Richardson fall out of the top five. Will Levis could be sitting in the green room for a minute, but Richardson has clearly emerged as a top-three quarterback prospect in the draft. He has major bust potential, but he has the most obvious prototype. He could be a Josh Allen, a Cam Newton or a Vince Young.

And to be totally honest, Seattle would be a fantastic landing spot for Richardson in the NFL Draft.