Getty Seattle Seahawks news reveal Pete Carroll's response to the push to bench Geno Smith.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said he was not close to making a change at quarterback despite Geno Smith’s eight turnovers in the last four outings.
During his weekly radio appearance on Seattle Sports’ “Brock and Salk,” Carroll was asked what it would take to make an in-season change at quarterback. Carroll’s response: “It should be obvious.”
Some Seattle fans are sure to see the current situation as “obvious” as the calls for Drew Lock are getting louder. Carroll did not see it that way, but acknowledged that Lock would “love to get his chance.”
“It should be an obvious situation that a guy’s not doing his part, and you have to declare where the issues are,” Carroll said during the November 6, 2023, interview. “Is it with the guys up front not being consistent? Are we not doing our route stuff right? Are we not calling the game for him?
“We have to call all the games for the quarterback. They’re the key, and we have to make sure we’re doing our part there. So, there’s a lot of aspects of that.”
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Lots of talk among fans about whether the Seahawks would make a change at quarterback. Pete was pretty confident in Geno and I don’t see a change coming but I was surprised he answered this question about what it would take to make a switch midseason:
The second half of the season will be critical for the front office in determining whether the team needs to make a move at quarterback. Smith has another two seasons remaining on his three-year, $75 million contract, but Seattle has an out in his deal this offseason.
The price tag for releasing Smith would cost the Seahawks more than $17 million in dead cap money against the cap, per Spotrac. Lock will be a free agent in 2024 as well. Carroll still sounds confident in Smith’s abilities but also praised Lock, potentially leaving the door slightly cracked.
“Geno shows us every day that he’s got what he needs to play good football,” Carroll added. “But that doesn’t say that Drew [Lock] isn’t either. Drew is working his tail off, and he would love to get this chance to play and help his club. But Geno’s doing fine.
“We just need to help around him. Obviously, when we don’t protect any better than we did yesterday and we can’t run the ball, it’s going to be hard. And it’s [the conversation] going to go somewhere and you guys are going to turn right to Geno. That’s classic and that’s just how it goes.”
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Through the first nine weeks of the season, Smith has earned a 74.2 grade (out of 100) from Pro Football Focus. This is down from last season’s Pro Bowl campaign of a 79.8 grade.
Seattle Sports’ Mike Salk (who asked the quarterback change question) said he did not see a move on the horizon. He did find Carroll’s response telling.
“Lots of talk among fans about whether the Seahawks would make a change at quarterback,” Salk tweeted on November 6. “Pete was pretty confident in Geno, and I don’t see a change coming. But I was surprised he answered this question about what it would take to make a switch midseason.”