The Seahawks wouldn’t have traded Smith without feeling strongly that next Wednesday they could sign Darnold, clearly the top free agent QB on the market.
The Geno Smith trade to Pete Carroll, Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders won't become official until the new league year begins on Wednesday, but it sounds like Seattle might already have his successor in place by then.
Count the Las Vegas Raiders as out on Minnesota Vikings free agent Sam Darnold. Count the Seattle Seahawks as in. The Seahawks traded quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a third-round pick on Friday,
Seattle is widely expected to heavily pursue free agent quarterback Sam Darnold to replace Smith. When this news broke, I began to wonder why the Seahawks would be willing to potentially pay Darnold roughly $40 million per year (which is what Spotrac is estimating he will fetch) when they apparently did not want to give Geno Smith the $40-$45 million a year he is reportedly seeking.
That's good to know if you're Aaron Rodgers.  It might be good to know if you're Daniels Jones, too. At first glance of just the numbers, Rodgers was solid enough in his first full season as the Jets starter.
Aaron Rodgers, who has a 7-4 lifetime record against Seattle — and knocked them out of the playoffs in January 2020 — was named a potential fit by John Breech of CBS Sports. Breech ranked the team's top five options and at No. 4, he lists Rodgers, however, he admits it's a long shot.