Geno Smith has been the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks for two and a half seasons now. That’s a little too long to qualify as a bridge quarterback but it’s also hard to classify him as a true long-term franchise QB1 considering he only has 24 games remaining on the contract extension he signed prior to the 2023 NFL season.

Smith appeared to make a breakthrough this past week in a win over the San Francisco 49ers, the first of his pro career against that franchise. Some folks like Mike Holmgren think that Seattle will be inclined to sign Smith to another deal. However, we can’t assume that the Seahawks will make another long-term commitment to Smith given his age (he just turned 34 years old last month).

With a weak free agent class at QB and a thin crop of quality quarterback prospects in the 2025 draft class, if the Seahawks are going to seek out an upgrade they’ll have to get it done via trade. On that note, one NFL pundit has an interesting idea for a trade proposal. Marissa Myers at TWSN is predicting that the Seahawks will trade for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who just signed a five-year, $275 million deal.

TWSN on Trevor Lawrence to Seahawks

“For Lawrence, the ideal team to be traded to will be the Seattle Seahawks… Smith has shown flashes of athleticism, being able to scramble and work outside the pocket, but it isn’t at the level as some of the top quarterbacks in today’s league. Lawrence is one of those quarterbacks that would come and provide a better mobility factor to the Seahawks offense.With having a talented receiver group like DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Tyler Lockett, Lawrence would have a reliable  group to throw to and show his full potential that marked him as “generational” coming out of the 2021 NFL Draft.”

It’s a very interesting idea, even if it seems like a remote possibility. The biggest obstacle to any Trevor Lawrence trade would of course be the size of his contract, which is considerable even for a young quarterback who’s considered to have elite potential. Should the deal go south then Seattle would be on the hook for some pretty brutal cap hits in the coming years, including $78.5 million in 2029 and another $75 million in 2030.

That might as well be an eternity from now, though. At the moment Lawrence still looks like he could develop into something special, even if his production so far this season doesn’t necessarily reflect that sky-high ceiling.

Then again, even if Lawrence does develop into a top-five starter the Seahawks probably have a better chance of riding Geno Smith to a deep playoff run over the next few years for one simple reason: Smith’s current contract is costing Seattle less than half what Lawrence’s deal is costing Jacksonville – $30 million less to be exact. That’s a lot of cap room that the Seahawks could use to fill out their offensive line or plug the other holes on their roster that stand between them and another Super Bowl run.

Some day Lawrence may be a far greater QB than Geno Smith, but that day is not today and given the relative costs keeping Smith is an easy choice compared to trading for Lawrence.

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