Seahawks Are ‘Top’ Trade Destination for Vibrant 24-Year-Old Quarterback

admin | December 4, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

In the offseason, the Seattle Seahawks might be searching for a new starting quarterback.

The Chicago Bears own two first-round selections in the top draft position for the upcoming season, as noted by Matt Lombardo of FanBuzz. With the Carolina Panthers owning the first-round draft pick, the Bears have a strong possibility of selecting first overall in the upcoming draft because the Panthers, with their 1-11 record, have the worst record in the league.

This implies that it’s quite possible that Justin Fields will be traded by the Bears during the summer. Lombardo lists a number of teams, including the Seahawks, that Fields might end up playing for.

As Lombardo notes, “the Seahawks, like Tampa Bay, might be a Fields away from legitimately challenging the San Francisco 49ers for NFC West supremacy.” “With Fields, the Seahawks could go back in time and add a quarterback that the young offensive playmakers can develop into and succeed with for a very long time.”

Why Seahawks Could Eventually Move on From Geno Smith

The thought of adding Fields, a dynamic dual-threat quarterback who has had difficulty winning games in his early career, was prompted by Geno Smith’s personal setbacks in his second season as the starting quarterback for the Seahawks.

By utilizing the likes of talented receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett with a healthy dose of rookie running back Kenneth Walker, Geno Smith led the Seahawks back to the postseason in 2022 while playing some of the finest football of his career, according to Lombardo. “Walker is on pace for a second consecutive season of 1,000 or more yards, but Smith has battled through a shoulder injury this season that has limited his upside.” Smith is averaging 4.1 yards per run with six touchdowns.

Smith’s output has decreased this season after he won Comeback Player of the Year and guided Seattle to an unexpected postseason bid the previous year.

Smith has an 89.1 passer rating this season with 15 touchdowns (a 3.7% touchdown rate) and nine interceptions (2.2% interception rate). Compared to his 5.2% touchdown rate, 1.9% interception rate, and 100.9 passer rating from the previous season, those figures represent a significant drop.

Smith re-signed with the Seahawks during the summer on a three-year, $75 million contract. There is a potential out clause in the contract for the 2024 offseason, though, which would result in a $17.4 million dead cap charge for Seattle should they decide to part ways with Smith. If the Seahawks wait another offseason before releasing or moving Smith, that cap charge decreases to just $8.7 million dead cap hit.

At 6-6, the Seahawks are still in the running for a postseason berth, but they have dropped three of their last five games and three of their last four games.

The complex analytics present a different image than the unimpressive individual data.Smith has recorded a 78.9 offensive grade and a 78.3 passing grade so far this season, per Pro Football Focus. In fact, those stats are remarkably close to his career-best season from the previous year, in which he recorded a 79.8 offensive rating and a 76.1 passing grade.

Why Justin Fields Is an Intriguing Option for Seahawks

Fields, meanwhile, is the best quarterback in the league when it comes to moving the ball; in the 2022 season, he rushed for 1,143 yards, which is the second-highest total in NFL history.Because he had so many rushing yards, he was sixth in the category out of all the players.

In terms of passing the football, he has also demonstrated improvement. In his first two seasons, he finished in the top 10 in yards per pass completion, and in terms of passing touchdown %, he is placed No. 6 last season and No. 7 this season.

Nevertheless, since joining the league in 2021, he has a 7-26 record. That is the worst record among starting quarterbacks since the 2021 season.

Fields is undoubtedly one of the league’s most gifted quarterbacks. However, he isn’t developing as a result of playing for the Bears or any other team. He would play for one of the greatest head coaches in the league in Pete Carroll and be surrounded by one of the top offensive supporting casts in the league in DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Kenneth Walker if he moved to Seattle.

We’ll see how the season concludes for Seattle. However, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Seahawks try to sign Fields as their next franchise quarterback if they are unable to make it to the postseason.