In a franchise-altering move, the Seattle Seahawks are reportedly trading veteran quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a 2025 third-round draft pick.
Brock Huard: Why Seahawks swung ‘stunning’ Geno Smith trade
The bombshell news broke late Friday afternoon, with the trade set to become official when the new league year begins next Wednesday.
How does the stunning trade impact the Seahawks’ salary cap situation? What does their 2025 draft capital now look like? Here’s a breakdown.
Salary cap
The Seahawks cleared $31 million in 2025 salary cap space by trading Smith, while taking on his remaining $13.5 million cap hit as dead money, according to OverTheCap. Seattle is now projected to have roughly $62.5 million in cap space, which is the seventh-most in the league per OTC.
It’s quite a difference from where Seattle began the offseason. About a month ago, the Seahawks were a projected $27.5 million over the cap, which was the third-worst situation in the league.
Since then, the Seahawks have restructured star defensive lineman Leonard Williams’ contract, released five players as cap casualties (longtime wide receiver Tyler Lockett, edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones, defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris, safety Rayshawn Jenkins and offensive tackle George Fant) and traded away their 34-year-old veteran quarterback.
Seattle could still free up more space, depending on what happens with star wide receiver DK Metcalf after his trade request this past week.
If the Seahawks trade Metcalf before June 1, they would clear $21 million in cap space, according to OTC. If they trade him after June 1, they would clear $13.875 million in cap space. And if they reach a contract extension, that presumably would bring down Metcalf’s $31.875 million cap hit by spreading it over multiple seasons.
Regardless of what transpires with Metcalf, Seattle now has ample space heading into the beginning of free agency’s negotiating period on Monday.
2025 draft picks
After acquiring a third-round pick from the Raiders, the Seahawks are now projected to have nine picks in April’s NFL Draft.
That includes three compensatory picks for 2024 free agent departures, with OverTheCap projecting Seattle to receive a fourth-round pick for offensive guard Damien Lewis, a fifth-rounder for linebacker Jordyn Brooks and a sixth-rounder for linebacker Bobby Wagner.
That also includes two picks the Seahawks acquired via trade – the third-round pick from Las Vegas and a sixth-rounder from dealing edge rusher Darrell Taylor to the Chicago Bears last August.
Here’s a look at Seattle’s nine projected draft picks, according to Tankathon and OTC.
• 1st round (No. 18 overall)
• 2nd round (No. 50 overall)
• 3rd round (No. 82 overall)
• 3rd round (No. 92 overall) – via Las Vegas (Geno Smith trade)
• 4th round (No. 137 overall) – comp pick (Damien Lewis)
• 5th round (No. 173 overall) – comp pick (Jordyn Brooks)
• 6th round (No. 187 overall) – via Chicago (Darrell Taylor trade)
• 6th round (No. 212 overall) – comp pick (Bobby Wagner)
• 7th round (No. 236 overall)
Seattle Seahawks news and analysis
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• What helps and what hurts DK’s trade value for Seattle Seahawks