Seahawks Become Heavy Favorites in Odds to Be Cam Newton’s Next Team After Geno Smith Loses Again

• The Seahawks lost 13-10 Monday night to the Saints to fall to 2-and-5 on the season
• With backup quarterback Geno Smith losing his first two starts, Cam Newton is the heavy favorite to be signed by Seattle
• See the current odds, along with how Seattle’s stock has plummeted since Russell Wilson’s injury

It was never going to be easy for Geno Smith to replace a Seahawks legend at quarterback. After two painfully close losses to Pittsburgh and New Orleans, Geno Smith has proven what people already knew – there’s a wide talent disparity between himself and Russell Wilson. That has ramped up the discussion about replacing Geno with 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton.

At the start of the season, the Seahawks were considered among the handful of teams that could win the Lombardi Trophy, but their Super Bowl Odds have taken a freefall since Wilson’s finger injury and the subsequent losses that followed. They now find themselves a full five-games back of the Arizona Cardinals for tops in the NFC West, and are currently +10000 to win it all.

A month ago, before the injury to their star QB, Seattle wasn’t even considered an option in the eyes of oddsmakers. Washington, who had lost Ryan Fitzpatrick due to injury and had the connection with Cam’s former coach in Carolina Ron Rivera, was the +450 favorite along with the Houston Texans. With their struggles at the quarterback position, he’s now the favorite to land with the Seahawks.

Odds On Cam Newton’s Next Team

Odds as of October 26th at DraftKings

Geno Smith Has Struggled Closing Out Games

In the three games that Geno Smith has played (two starts), his raw numbers aren’t absolutely terrible. He’s 45-for-71 for 507 yards, three TD’s, one interception and one fumble lost. However, in each of the three contests where he’s had the ball in his hands with a chance to win it, he’s failed to secure victory. Crushing losses to the Rams, Steelers and Saints Monday night have seen Seattle take a nosedive in the standings.

Geno Smith threw an 84-yard TD to DK Metcalf and had just 83 yards on his other 21 pass attempts.

— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) October 26, 2021

While he’s mostly kept control of the football, with just two turnovers in parts of the three games, the issue is taking back-breaking sacks. In the last two games, the former second round pick has been taken down behind the line of scrimmage ten times. He’s also been sacked at inopportune times to put Seattle behind the eight-ball.

Carroll said of Geno Smith, "We took two or three sacks last night that we shouldn't have taken." Asked if Smith is still his starting QB, Carroll said, "Sure, yeah he is." Said they'll count on Smith getting better and others playing better around him.

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 26, 2021

Due to those struggles, Seahawks fans are clamoring for a change at QB, and oddsmakers agree, as Newton is now installed as the +175 favorite to be signed by Seattle.

Does Signing Cam Newton Make Sense?

Before Seattle’s latest loss, there were rumblings of a potential interest in Newton, with Head Coach Pete Carroll mentioning that the team had had discussions with Newton’s camp now that he’s been vaccinated and able to join the team more easily.

Pete Carroll talked to Cam Newton "a couple times," he says. Nothing came of it, obviously. Seattle is all-in on Geno Smith right now so sounds very very unlikely Cam would have had a chance to compete.

— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) October 18, 2021

The health of Russell Wilson is the deciding factor on whether or not they’ll pursue Newton. From all accounts, he’s recovering nicely from his finger ailment, and could be activated off injured reserve as soon as after the next game (players are required to be gone for at least three contests). Seattle plays the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8, then has a bye week. After which time, there’s reports that Wilson might be ready to rock against Green Bay.

Pete Carroll on how much Seahawks miss Russell Wilson. “I’ve been here a long time and if we didn’t have Russell I probably wouldn’t have been here a long time.”

— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) October 26, 2021

There is no definitive timetable for when he’ll be back in action, but the Seahawks also have another vested interest in winning as many games as possible – they’re without their first round pick in the upcoming draft because of the Jamal Adams trade with the New York Jets.

If Seattle is going to have Wilson back after just one more game, it makes little sense to sign Newton. If the organization realizes he’s going to be out far longer than they initially hoped, then signing the former MVP makes a ton of sense. At this point, the odds are too low to go all-in with Cam to Seattle since they might have their star QB back in short order.