The Seattle Seahawks’ current quarterback situation isn’t the best in the NFL, but they at least seem to be on stable footing with a solid enough starter in Geno Smith and a possible successor in Sam Howell.
So then, why would they disrupt that situation to sign a free agent next offseason who will likely cost over $50 million year? Trick question, they wouldn’t, but some analysts seem to think it’s a good idea for some reason.
Recently, both ESPN’s Bill Barnwell and Nick Korte of Over the Cap have linked the Seahawks to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who is due to hit free agency next spring. Prescott is certainly a good signal caller, but it doesn’t really make sense for the Seahawks to pursue him for numerous reasons.
Firstly, when comparing Smith and Prescott’s stats over the past two seasons, there really isn’t much of a difference. In his two seasons as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback, Smith has completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 7,906 yards, 50 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and a 96.8 passer rating, plus 521 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Over that same time, Prescott has completed 68.2 of his passes for 7,376 yards, 59 touchdowns, 24 interceptions and a 100 passer rating, along with 424 yards and three touchdowns rushing.
Are Prescott’s stats marginally better than Smith’s? Maybe. However, they certainly aren’t that much better to warrant paying him over twice as much money as Smith, who makes $25 million per year on the terms of his current contrac
Additionally, the Seahawks are already projected to be over next year’s salary cap, so they are in no position to go out and splurge on a new quarterback even if they wanted to. Seattle general manager John Schneider is also very reserved when it comes to quarterback acquisitions, so a move like that would be very out of character for him, especially after trading for Howell this spring.
All this isn’t to say that Prescott is bad or that whatever team that signs him will regret it, only that the Seahawks don’t make sense for him and history suggests they won’t be looking into signing him in the event the Cowboys somehow let him hit the market.
