New Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald recently danced around a question about whether or not he was committed to Geno Smith as his starting quarterback heading into 2024, which has fueled speculation that the Seahawks could take a signal-caller in the NFL Draft next month.
Seattle owns the 16th overall pick in the first round of the draft, so, barring a trade, top prospects like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels are almost certainly out of the question.
But what about University of Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy?
Former NFL quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst Brock Huard thinks the Seahawks should do whatever it takes to go and get McCarthy, even if that means trading star wide receive D.K. Metcalf.
“Is it trading D.K. Metcalf? Is it trading next year’s (first-round pick)? I really would love for him to be this year’s (first-round pick). I really would,” Huard said on Brock and Salt.
It would probably take Metcalf and then some to move up in the order to take a quarterback in this year’s draft, and that just seems like an incredibly hefty price to pay for Seattle. Especially if it’s for McCarthy. There are a lot of questions about McCarthy’s NFL prospects, and Huard himself even admits he has some concerns about him.
There are a handful of teams ahead of the Seahawks in the draft order who could potentially take McCarthy, starting with the New York Giants at No. 6.
Would the Giants bite if Seattle offered Metcalf and a pick?
Metcalf is coming off of a 2023 campaign in which he played 16 games and caught 66 passes for 1,114 yards and eight touchdowns en route to his second Pro Bowl appearance.
Parting with him would certainly be tough for the Seahawks, but if they want a quarterback, they may have to do just that.
Seattle went 8-9 and missed the playoffs in 2023.
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