Seahawks HC Pete Carroll: Seattle Is “Totally Connected” To Collegiate QBs

Experiences on extension talks between quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks have indicated that each side are optimistic a deal will get accomplished. Nevertheless, the most recent such report was a full month in the past. With the March 7 deadline for groups to make the most of a franchise or transition tag looming, it’s unclear how a lot progress has been made in negotiations, or if Seattle will hit its breakout passer with a tag.

Deadlines can at all times spur motion, so it might not be stunning to see a deal struck over the following 48 hours or so. The Seahawks, although, are rigorously evaluating the highest quarterbacks on this yr’s class, and as they possess the No. 5 total decide within the 2023 draft because of final offseason’s Russell Wilson commerce (together with their very own No. 20 total choice), the membership is well-positioned to pick out a high-profile signal-caller if it so chooses.

On the scouting mix in Indianapolis final week, head coach Pete Carroll instructed reporters, together with Brady Henderson of ESPN.com, “[w]e are completely linked to the quarterbacks which are popping out. It is a actually large alternative for us. It’s a uncommon alternative. We’ve been drafting within the low 20s for such a very long time; you simply don’t get the prospect with these guys. So we’re deeply concerned with all that.”

When requested how a lot the Seahawks are finding out this yr’s quarterback class, GM John Schneider mentioned, “loads. Yearly, truthfully, we actually take a look at it loads. Like I mentioned earlier, we haven’t picked fifth total since we’ve been right here. So yeah, I obtained out to see lots of quarterbacks this yr. It was fairly enjoyable.” 

As Carroll and Schneider indicated, the ‘Hawks have sometimes had a local decide late within the first spherical throughout their tenure in Seattle, and essentially the most coveted collegiate passers usually don’t fall that far. So whereas Schneider acknowledged that he appears carefully at yearly’s quarterback class, his 2023 draft capital provides him a professional probability to do one thing he has not often had the prospect to do.

After all, as Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic posits, the feedback made by Carroll and Schneider might be a part of a ploy to get quarterback-needy groups to leapfrog the Seahawks in a trade-up maneuver, thereby growing the possibilities that an elite non-QB like Alabama edge defender Will Anderson Jr. or Georgia defensive sort out Jalen Carter falls to them (subscription required). However Dugar doesn’t consider that’s the case. Even when Wilson was piloting the membership to division titles and playoff runs, Schneider attended the professional days of quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, and he has regretted not choosing extra QBs over his 13 drafts as Seattle’s GM.

To be clear, even when Schneider is critical about nabbing one among this yr’s prized quarterback prospects, it doesn’t imply that he’ll enable Smith to stroll. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com (through Bob Condotta of the Seattle Occasions) tasks {that a} truthful contract for Smith could be a two-year pact price between $55MM-$60MM, and on condition that the 2023 Comeback Participant of the Yr will flip 33 in October, a two- or three-year accord sounds about proper. Which signifies that Schneider may draft a top-flight quarterback and groom him behind Smith for a few years earlier than turning over the reins, simply as mentor Ted Thompson did when, as normal supervisor of the Packers in 2005, he chosen Aaron Rodgers and had him sit behind Brett Favre for a number of seasons.

Schneider not too long ago mentioned that contract discussions with Smith have been “constructive,” however he didn’t point out that an settlement was notably shut. And as Henderson writes in a separate piece, Schneider will not be inclined to make use of a tag on Smith (as our personal Sam Robinson advised final month, and as ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote in a subscription-only piece as we speak). If he doesn’t, and if no deal is reached by the point the authorized tampering interval opens on March 13, Smith would then be capable to discuss to different golf equipment, and the Seahawks wouldn’t have the correct of first refusal.

In the meantime, Seattle nonetheless desires to retain Drew Lock (ideally to reprise his 2022 function as Smith’s backup). A number of specialists that Henderson has consulted consider Lock will get not more than a one-year deal for the league minimal wage ($1.08MM), whereas others consider he’ll be capable to command barely extra, however no larger than $3MM.