Pete Carroll raised some eyebrows at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine when he said the Seattle Seahawks are deeply connected to all of the top quarterback prospects in the draft.
That comment certainly landed on Bears general manager Ryan Poles' radar as he tries to find the best trade partner for the No. 1 pick.
But when the Seahawks re-signed quarterback Geno Smith on Monday, it seemed like the Seahawks might have removed themselves as potential players in the draft quarterback game.
Not so, says Carroll.
"That opportunity [to draft a QB] is absolutely there," Carroll told the Brock and Salk show on Seattle Sports 710 AM, via the team's official website. "We can do whatever we need to do, which is a whole other discussion that's really exciting. The coaches are working at it, and the scouts are working at it to try to position this thing -- when you're at five, this is different than what we're used to seeing. This is really fun, because you can pretty much predict what's going to happen with four different choices, so which one is it?"
The structure of Smith's new contract also makes it easy for the Seahawks to get out of after one or two seasons. So, yes, the Seahawks remain very much in the quarterback game.
That's great news for the Bears as Poles looks to create as much leverage as possible to exact maximum return for the NFL's most valuable asset.
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The Seahawks aren't seen at the moment as a likely trade candidate. The Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, and Las Vegas Raiders all would be above them on a better board.
The Atlanta Falcons, who sit at No. 8, would be as well.
And yet, Carroll's openness about Seattle's interest in the top quarterbacks and Anthony Richardson's draft rise could make the Seahawks a dark-horse trade partner for the Bears.
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The noise around the Seahawks' interest in Richardson was deafening during the combine. That was before the Florida product went out and blew the doors off the combine with a 4.43 40-yard dash and a 40.5-inch vertical.
Now his stock is soaring as we cruise toward April.
Richardson was always going to wow at the combine. Many in league circles now view him as a surefire top-five pick, and there's some smoke that he could go No. 1 overall.
If the Seahawks' interest in Richardson is real, a deal with the Bears might be their only chance to secure the athletic signal-caller. That could be a trade up to No. 1 or a swap with the Bears to get to No. 2 or No. 4 after Poles makes his first move.
With Smith in place, Seattle is the perfect spot for Richardson -- who is still a very raw prospect -- to sit, listen and learn before taking the reins.
But after an electric combine, the only way for Carroll to secure the quarterback who now has the entire league's attention might be to play ball with Poles and the Bears.