Titans QB landscape changes in big ways following Seahawks trade of Geno Smith to Raiders ahead of 2025 Free Agency
The 2025 QB carousel is officially spinning, and the Titans are at the center of it
In a late Friday afternoon news dump, the Seattle Seahawks traded starting QB Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. For just a 3rd round pick, new Raiders coach Pete Carroll reunited with the NFL QB he's most recently coached.
On a quarterback carousel that the Titans hold the most leverage in, this seems like the domino we’ve been waiting to see fall. Matthew Stafford’s return to the Los Angeles Rams during Combine week made it clear he wouldn’t be stirring the pot with one of the neediest teams, so Geno is the move that begins the shuffle.
Behind the Giants at third overall, the Raiders at six were considered the second-most QB needy team in this draft. Mock drafters have been finding ways to get Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders to Las Vegas for months. There was also always the possibility of them trying to move up in the draft for their guy.
Now that they’ve landed an undisputed starter who they’ll work to get a new multi-year deal, they take a step back from the QB market for the moment. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them take a Day 2 or 3 QB, such as Ohio State’s Will Howard who Raiders OC Chip Kelly just won a National Championship with, but that would be the extent of their involvement now.
So where does this leave us? The cards have been shuffled in a big way. The Titans can cross Las Vegas off the list of teams in the top-10 who could really use a QB, narrowing their trade possibilities. Meanwhile the Seahawks suddenly join the fray in serious need of a new passer. When this move was announced, everybody’s mind went to Minnesota’s Sam Darnold. And reporting in the 12 hours since is indicating that Darnold is in fact their primary target.
It’s more than fair to question the plan in general—moving on from Geno because you don’t want to pay him $45M, and instead paying $30M to basically the same QB who is significantly more pressure sensitive (and you have a terrible interior OL)—but that’s what appears to be happening. So here’s where we’re at with each team:
The Raiders are set with Geno. The Seahawks appear to be in on Darnold. The Vikings sound unlikely to fight to retain Darnold, so they’ll pivot to somebody like Daniel Jones who was with them last season. Jones has interest from the Colts already, so in a surprising turn of events, he’s somebody teams may actually fight over.
The Giants, who remain the runt of the QB-needy litter, are still showing interest in Aaron Rodgers. Aside from him, their path to a satisfactory passer is to blow the Titans away with a trade offer. As the musical chairs continue to be taken, their desperation will increase. Also in New York, the Jets plans are less clear. They have interest in Justin Fields, who they’re going to have to fight Pittsburgh for.
Could they be a sneaky trade-up team? Seems unlikely given how expensive it would be. Could they be the Shedeur landing spot at 7? If he falls that far, they may feel they have to take that swing.
And finally, the footnote of this year’s QB carousel: Russell Wilson. It’s not easy to find a starting job out there for him at this point. It might be over. I’d bet he waits for somebody to be left out in the end and come crawling, desperate for anybody.
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