The Seattle Seahawks have already had a whirlwind offseason in the form of trading quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf. For the first time since those trades materialized, Seahawks general manager John Schneider has addressed the media on those decisions.
Smith was traded to Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2025 third-round pick after failing to come to terms on a contract extension. An initial report from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer suggested the Seahawks offered far less than what Smith wanted, but additional reporting from the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta indicated that wasn’t the case, although one wrinkle was Smith’s team not even proposing a counteroffer.
Here’s what Schneider said in his media scrum.
“We made an offer to Geno, tried to extend him,” Schneider said (via Seahawks.com). “It became apparent that we weren’t going to be able to get a deal done. It wasn’t a very long negotiation, so as a staff, we had to be prepared to pivot. We had sat down with the offensive staff, and obviously the personnel guys were on it before, always having a contingency plan. We had some guys we were interested in, made the trade, and were able to get the guy at the top of the list, which doesn’t happen all the time.”
Schneider also said that Smith did not request a trade and that the Raiders offer was the only one they fielded. In a separate interview on his weekly Seattle Sports radio show, Schneider did indicate there wasn’t a counteroffer.
“We made an offer, and we thought it was a strong offer,” Schneider said. “We wanted Geno to be here. You know, we had to be prepared if, obviously, they didn’t like the offer. There was no counter, so we just had to do what we always do, which is the best thing for the organization.”
As for DK Metcalf, who’s now with the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick (plus Day 3 pick swaps), he did request a trade and was granted it in lieu of a contract extension northward of $30 million/year.
“There were discussions, DK and I were having a lot of personal discussions,” Schneider said. “I thought we could fix it, handle it, whatever it was, and at the end of the day, it was a no and he wanted to be traded. So we pivoted and moved forward. We want guys who want to be here, we want guys that believe in what we’re doing, and for whatever reason or another, he just wanted to move on and get a fresh start.”
Schneider also added on Seattle Sports that “we weren’t interested in trading DK,” but that it was “evident” Metcalf wanted to move on.
