Pete Caroll shouldn’t trade for Baker Mayfield

By: Jake Rajala

The Seattle Seahawks have two young, disappointing, and highly motivated quarterbacks fighting for the starting QB gig. Geno Smith and Drew Lock are making their bid to be QB1 and it’s been reported by New York Post that Smith is in the lead for the keys to the starting offense. With that enunciated, there is another QB option that is deemed available for the Seahawks: Baker Mayfield.

As reported by The Athletic, the Seahawks have a strong interest in Mayfield. I do believe that Mayfield may have more upside over Geno Smith and Drew Lock, but I am not convinced that he is the path that the Seahawks should pursue. With that said, here are three reasons why the Seahawks should not acquire Mayfield.

Asking price

The Browns don’t only want a second or third-round pick, but they also want his new squad to eat up a lot of his contract. The Seahawks don’t exactly have the luxury of having only two or three holes to fill on their roster. They could really benefit from using their resources to ink a new pass rusher, LB, and a couple of defensive backs in the 2023 and 2024 off-season. They struggled to build the team around Russell Wilson and it would be quite a challenge to purchase FA talent for Mayfield.

Long term fit

I really don’t believe Baker is the long-term answer for the Hawks. It feels like the Seahawks are trying to fight for scraps in the QB pool this off-season. If/when the Seahawks target a QB like Bryce Young in the 2023 draft, it’s safe to say that Mayfield would be a very expensive backup QB. They should prioritize a future QB beyond 2023 with their resources and “draft ammunition”.

Geno Smith

I actually like the ability that Geno Smith showed with the Seahawks offense last season. He kept the Hawks competitive in the rainy contest against the Saints and brought the Hawks to OT against the Steelers. It should also be noted that Smith was a modest game manager, despite not having an off-season of preparation with the starters. Smith had impressive connections with Metcalf and I trust them to continue to grow. It’s also unclear if Baker would properly utilize the Seahawks potent WR duo, as he wasn’t able to properly utilize OBJ and Jarvis Landry in the same offense.