Well, folks, it’s official: the Seattle Seahawks are in the market for a new quarterback after trading away Geno Smith for a third-round pick.
That’s right, after being linked to Russell Wilson for much of the offseason, the Raiders decided to go for Pete Carroll’s other franchise quarterback currently active in the NFL and, in doing so, created one of the more interesting storylines the league has to offer heading into 2025.
But how will the Seahawks address their biggest hole? Will they look to find their next quarterback in free agency? Use their first round pick on a new QB1 in the draft? Or fall somewhere in the middle, settling for a bridge option to usher in a new QB1 drafted outside of the first round? While it’s hard to say one way or another at this stage of the game, the Seahawks do have plenty of interesting options, including one of the hottest risers of the 2025 NFL Draft cycle.
1. Jaxson Dart
Mark it now, Seahawks fans: Seattle will be linked to Jaxson Dart more than any other player in the 2025 NFL Draft moving forward.
On paper, it makes sense, right? Holding pick 18, the team can’t really get into the top 5 without surrendering some serious draft capital and may be more interested in throwing a dart at the free agent in their range rather than going up for a player with only a bit higher guarantee to actually become a franchise quarterback.
With Cam Ward widely considered the best passer in this year’s class, and Shedeur Sanders still expected to go off the board before the Seahawks pick despite some less-than-favorable rumors swirling around, Dart is widely expected to be the third player off the board, with some suggesting he might actually be better than the Colorado product based on his on-field tape and upside.
Standing 6-foot-2 with an ability to attack opposing defenses with his arm and his legs, Dark has shot up draft boards for his play at the Senior Bowl and his impressive interviews with teams, with some suggesting he could go as high as three to the New York Giants if Tennessee and Cleveland go QB 1-2. Breaking down his game for NFL.com, Lance Zierlein gave Dart a pretty good review for NFL.com, even if a pro comp to Gardner Minshew may give some fans pause.
While Dart isn’t a guaranteed franchise-changer, he is a three-year SEC starter who played in an offense with plays that could directly translate to the NFL level. Even if he doesn’t flirt with leading the league in passing like Smith before him, he is unquestionably a prospect worthy of a first-round pick and gives the Seahawks a much longer runway than the West Virginia product.
2. Aaron Rodgers
If the Seahawks don’t want to invest a first-round pick in a quarterback and instead are willing to risk it all with a less-proven passer on Day 2, then they will need to settle on some sort of a bridge quarterback who can hold down the fort until this player is ready to go, right? If that’s the case, one player they could immediately sign to keep their short-term success going while turning an eye toward the future is Aaron Rodgers.
Now granted, in 2024, Rodgers was kind of bad, leading his team to a worse record in a full season under center than their previous campaign, where he didn’t even last a quarter. Players didn’t seem to like playing for him, multiple coaches were fired due to an internal power struggle, and in the end, the Jets moved on from the player they once assumed would lead them to a Super Bowl.
With that being said, if Rodgers can still play, there’s little reason to believe he couldn’t at least be a solid NFL quarterback with an ability to play at a similar level to Smith in 2024.
Like Smith, Rodgers is more of a pocket passer than a dual-threat QB at this stage of his career, and while the Seahawks could be without Tyler Locket and DK Metcalf in 2025 following the release of the former and the latter’s trade request, one would assume the team would add some talent alongside Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Throw that together and what do you have? A player who might just keep the Seahawks in playoff contention in 2025 while they retool behind the scenes.
Is Rodgers the kind of player who can help teach a young quarterback how to play at the NFL level? I mean, he didn’t seem very keen on that idea back in Green Bay and took things in a much weirder direction in New York after that. But if the goal is to have a two-timelines solution, to borrow from the Golden State Warriors, then bringing in Rodgers as a foil to a young player like Dart on Day 1 or another option on Day 2 would be a solid enough solution to a problem of Seattle’s own making.
3. Quinn Ewers
Alright, so if the Seahawks aren’t willing or able to draft Dart, Sanders, or Ward in the first round, what kind of quarterback could they be looking for on Day 2? Would they want someone with a ton of experience like Tyler Shoen, who was in college football for seven years? Or an untapped talent like Jalen Milroe, who could become the next elite do-it-all talent or the latest in a long line of athletes who could never learn how to become a quarterback?
Well, if they agreed to a new deal with Smith, which they were at one point looking to do, they were going to build their offense around a quarterback with a good arm and functional athleticism, so why not look for a similar option in April?
Enter Quin Ewers, the former high school marvel who never quite put it all together at Texas.
A former five-star recruit many expected to become a first-round pick, Ewers was constantly compared to Arch Manning during his time at Texas. While he had some incredible moments, he came up short at times, too, which is unacceptable for a team with National Championship ambitions.
Standing 6-foot-2, 214 pounds with a live arm and functional athleticism, Ewers is one of the biggest wildcards in the 2025 NFL Draft Class, with Zierlein comparing the Longhorns’ game to a player Seattle knows very well, Sam Howell.
While many a fan of the Seahawks may not like the idea of investing, say, a second-round pick on the next Howell, as he’s already a backup on the team, the former UNC product clearly has an athletic profile the team likes; otherwise, they wouldn’t have traded for him from Washington. If Ewers can play with a similar gusto but not take 50 sacks a season, the Seahawks might actually become the rare team in 2025 to compete with a second-round quarterback as their QB1, joining the Philadelphia Eagles, who just won the Super Bowl with Jalen Hurts under center.
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