Seahawks could re-sign Geno Smith and still draft a quarterback

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said that they want to re-sign Geno Smth and take a look at the top quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Seattle Seahawks proved the doubters wrong this past season. After trading Russell Wilson, the team was projected to drop all the way down the league standings and earn one of the top picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. As it turns out they do, but from the Denver Broncos, who finished 5-12 after the Wilson trade. The Seahawks, meanwhile, clinched a playoff berth with a 9-8 record behind a tremendous season by quarterback Geno Smith, who earned a Pro Bowl nomination and the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award win.

Smith is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, while having the No. 5 and 20 picks in the first-round of the NFL Draft. When speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said that they want to re-sign Smith. He also said that bringing back Smith won’t preclude them from taking a look at the top quarterback prospects.

“We’re totally connected to the quarterbacks that are coming out,” said Carroll. “This is a really huge opportunity for us. It’s a rare opportunity. We’ve been drafting in the low 20’s for such a long time, you just don’t get the chance at these guys. So we’re deeply involved with them.”

Pete Carroll open to draft QB for Seahawks, even if they re-sign Geno Smith

In the aforementioned Wilson trade, the Seahawks acquired quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, first-, second-, and fifth-round picks in 2022, and first- and second-round picks in 2023. Those first-and-second-round picks in 2023 will be early, No. 5 and 37, respectively. That is due in part to Denver’s disastrous 2022 campaign, which saw head coach Nathaniel Hackett fired after 15 games.

With the first-round pick, the Seahawks are in prime position to select any of the top four quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, and they are Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis, and Florida’s Anthony Richardson. If the Seahawks stand pat, two of those options will realistically be gone, as the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, two quarterback-needy teams, pick ahead of them. But, that would allow the Seahawks to still select one of the best remaining prospects available, and hypothetically, allow them to sit behind Smith for their rookie year and get a feel for the playbook and playing at the NFL level.

This past season, Smith set the Seahawks’ single-season passing yards record with 4,282, a record previously held by Wilson (4,219 yards in 2016). Smith threw 30 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions while completing 69.8-percent of his passes.

While the Seahawks work to re-sign Smith, they are going to evaluate the quarterback prospects. Whether they actually select one with the fifth-overall pick remains to be seen. We’ll find out on the first night of the NFL Draft on Apr. 27.