The Seattle Seahawks had no backup plan at quarterback, but do have a team that went 10-7 last season and shouldn’t feel like it is rebuilding.
And yet they traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, leaving them bare at the most important position in sports.
That doesn’t mean Smith can’t play. He was reasonable for Seattle the past three seasons. Last season he passed for 4,320 yards and completed more than 70% of his passes. But there is a reason the Seahawks traded him.
The Raiders’ mistake in a big headline of an offseason move probably won’t be sending a reported third-round pick for Smith, via NFL Media. It would be thinking they’ve got their quarterback position settled.
There has been a possible shift in how teams are looking at quarterback. The smarter teams will follow suit and commit multiple resources to more than one option at the position, especially when there are questions about their starter’s age or ability to remain a viable starter for multiple seasons. The bad teams will continue to follow the path of so many other teams who either fooled themselves into thinking they were set at quarterback or didn’t want to upset the starter.
The Atlanta Falcons stole one of the Raiders’ preferred quarterbacks in the draft last year and even though Las Vegas’ leadership has changed since then, that lesson should guide their path.
Geno Smith can be a short-term fix
A year ago, it was little secret that the Raiders liked Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons didn’t seem like a threat to steal Penix from them with the eighth pick of the draft. Then they did, despite having Kirk Cousins on a big, new contract. The Raiders were grasping at air with the 13th pick when six quarterbacks when in the top 12 (though tight end Brock Bowers was a fantastic consolation prize at No. 13).
Everyone made fun of the Falcons on draft night for taking Penix right after signing Cousins. After Cousins failed last season and Penix looked pretty good in the final few weeks, nobody is ripping Atlanta for the Penix pick anymore.
The Raiders needed someone to come in and play at a competent level right away. Smith, who will be 35 years old next season, can do that. The rental wasn’t cheap, because the third-round pick going back to Seattle is very valuable for a rebuilding team like the Raiders. But it was a reasonable move. The new faces of the franchise, led by limited owner Tom Brady, general manager John Spytek and coach Pete Carroll, didn’t want to make the mistakes of the old regime — or, in the Raiders’ case, many regimes — and flail around with a bad quarterback situation. Smith settles that, especially given his familiarity with Carroll. It was costly but fine.
And now is not the time to rest. Now is the time to get aggressive, knowing the clock is ticking.
What will be Raiders’ next QB move?
As Smith turns 35 on Oct. 10, the Raiders can’t realistically expect many more years of solid play from him. They certainly can’t imagine there’s another level coming. They know exactly what they’re getting, and have a good idea how long it will last.
The mistake NFL teams have made too often is not wanting to upset a veteran quarterback by bringing in a younger player behind him. That’s how teams get stuck with an aging quarterback who suddenly hits the wall and there’s no answer behind him. That’s pretty much the place the Seahawks find themselves in, presumably happy to get a third-round pick back for Smith after a couple offseasons of being wishy-washy on his future with the team, but without any firm plan for what comes next. Sam Howell is very unlikely to be the quarterback to keep Seattle at a 10-win level. The Seahawks have their own work to do.
The Raiders have the sixth overall pick and if a quarterback they like, perhaps Shedeur Sanders of Colorado, falls to them they have to double up just like the Falcons did a year ago. If they don’t like any quarterback who falls to them in the first round, they need to have an eye on other quarterbacks from the second round on. You can’t believe a quarterback in his mid-30s who has been good-not-great like Smith will solve problems beyond who will start Week 1 of next season.
That’s the test for Brady, Spytek and Carroll. The Raiders found a band-aid, and that will help them look like a more professional outfit than they were last season. But it’s just the start of figuring out the quarterback problem. And it could end up helping lead the way in changing how teams approach quarterback in the NFL.
