With Geno Smith off to the Raiders, his former team plans to go after another ex-Jets quarterback — Sam Darnold.
The Seahawks traded Smith to Las Vegas on Friday in exchange for a third-round pick, per multiple reports.
Now that the Seahawks are without a starting quarterback, the team is expected to target Darnold in free agency, with the “legal tampering” negotiating period starting Monday, per The Athletic.
Darnold, 27, is coming off of a breakout season with the Vikings.
He threw for 4,319 passing yards, 254.1 yards per game and 35 touchdowns, all of which were career highs.
The former Jets 2017 first-round pick also helped lead Minnesota to their second playoff appearance in three seasons and with their best regular season record since 1998, earning his first Pro Bowl selection in the process.
However, the Vikings’ success was short-lived in the playoffs, as they suffered a blowout loss to the Rams in the wild-card round.
Minnesota has put out a contract offer to Darnold, though an official dollar amount has yet to be revealed, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
“The Vikings have an offer out to him,” Pelissero said on the Rich Eisen Show on Friday. “They have been in talks. They chose not to use the franchise tag, which is probably a pretty good indication that Sam Darnold’s market is a little bit lighter than what people had been expecting on the outside.”
Smith and Darnold have plenty of parallels in their careers, as both quarterbacks started off with a lot of hype as Jets, only to later find success with other franchises.
Smith, 34, will now be reunited with his former Seattle head coach, Pete Carroll, whom he played under from 2020-23.
Carroll played a large part in Smith reviving his career in Seattle, with the West Virginia product earning two Pro Bowl selections and winning AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2022.
