The Seattle Seahawks will have a new starting quarterback in 2025 after the team traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick on Friday.
After the trade, Seattle is down to two quarterbacks on its roster in Sam Howell and Jaren Hall, with the former being the most likely in-house option to replace Smith. However, it’s safe to assume the Seahawks will add to the position, as Howell is anything but a sure thing.
In order to remedy their need at quarterback, TWSN’s Daniel Alameda predicts the Seahawks will sign Pittsburgh Steelers pending free agent, Justin Fields.
“The Seattle Seahawks seem from the outside noise to be completely in shambles, but if they were confident enough to trade Geno Smith, they likely have a plan in their back pocket,” Alameda explained. “While it’s been reported that plan is Sam Darnold, Justin Fields would be an extremely intruiging option. He’s a quarterback who got a bad rap in Chicago, had a winning record in Pittsburgh, and is still just 26 years old.”
As Alameda notes, the Seahawks have been connected to Minnesota Vikings free agent quarterback Sam Darnold. But there remains a chance he stays in with the team he revived his career with, and it’s also possible Darnold is simply too expensive, which could force the Seahawks to pivot.
Fields started six games for the Steelers in 2024 while Russell Wilson was injured, but he didn’t show much improvement from his days with the Chicago Bears. Once Wilson was healthy, the Steelers sent Fields to the bench and he didn’t get another start the rest of the season, even when Wilson struggled down the stretch.
The expectation of late has been that Fields is likely to return to the Steelers, but the aforementioned decision to not put him back into the starting lineup in 2024 is something that could make Fields think twice about returning to Pittsburgh, per CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala.
“The impediments (to Fields returning), as I am told them? 1) There IS a market for him and he could chase money,” she wrote. “2) He has to get past any sting/distrust from this season, when there was player/assistant sentiment in the building that he return to the starting spot, but Mike Tomlin chose not to do so.”
In Fields, the Seahawks would have competition for Howell and a solid bridge quarterback if the lands the gig. Furthermore, at just 26 years old, he’s still young enough to be a long-term option under center for Seattle if everything pans out.
Fields’ interest in going to Seattle will depend upon what the Seahawks’ plans are with Howell. The former first-round pick is looking for a starting opportunity and may balk at going to Seattle if the team doesn’t guarantee him a starting job.
When it comes to how much he’ll cost, Pro Football Focus envisions a contract that pays him $11 million on a one-year pact. With Smith off the books, Seattle is now working with $62 million in cap space, so Fields can easily be afforded if the Seahawks want him.
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