ClutchPoints
The Seattle Seahawks had a solid first season under head coach Mike Macdonald, going 10-7 in 2024. However, that wasn’t enough to win the NFC West or make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. In Macdonald’s second offseason, the roster needs to continue to evolve, and that may mean getting rid of some key players. That means the one Seahawks player who could be a surprise roster cut in the 2025 offseason could actually be Geno Smith
The first question Seahawks fans will have when you suggest that the team could cut Smith this offseason is, who will play quarterback then?
That is absolutely a fair question, and one we will get into, but first let’s talk about why the team could cut their starting QB ahead of the 2025 campaign.
As the 2024 NFL season wraps up with the Super Bowl, the Seahawks aren’t in great shape, salary cap-wise. They are currently $11.3 million over the 2025 cap, which is the fifth-worst in the NFL, per Spotrac.
Now, general manager John Schneider has plenty of levers to pull in order to get well under the cap. Seattle can extend, release, or trade DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Dre’mont Jones to free up anywhere from around $20 to over $50 million in cap space. However, the biggest savings would come if the team cut Smith, who is set to account for a $44.5 million cap hit next season.
By releasing the quarterback before the first day of the new league year (March 13, 2025) or after June 1, the Seahawks would save $31 million based on Smith’s $13.5 million dead cap hit. If they cut him after the start of the league year but before June 1, they will save $15 million against the cap.
That is all well and good on paper, but the problem becomes, who will play QB for the Seahawks if not Geno Smith?
Well, Seahawks fans know it won’t be the two other quarterbacks currently on the roster. Sam Howell and Jaren Hall are on the books with great deals. They both will make just over a million bucks in 2025. However, the reason they are on those low-level NFL contracts is that neither seems like they have what it takes to be an NFL starting signal-caller.
Hall has played just three games in his pro career, with the last one coming for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16 of the 2023 season. And while Howell has more experience — 20 games, 18 starts — the results simply haven’t been there. He took 25 snaps for the Seahawks in 2024, going 5-of-14 for 24 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
All this means that the player who will replace Smith if the Seahawks cut him is not currently in the building.
At one point not too long ago, though, it seemed like the team didn’t have a legit replacement for Russell...
