I wouldn't be so sure. Macdonald didn't exactly give Geno a ringing endorsement when he was asked his opinion.
Per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic, Macdonald kept his options open when asked about his vision regarding the starter under center during his upcoming first season with the team.
"The first thing that I want you to know, and everybody to know, is that as an organization we're always looking, we're always trying to figure out what's best for the team all the time," Macdonald said. "We're always going to try to make the best decisions for the team."
With Macdonald and general manager John Schneider replacing former head coach Pete Carroll on the sidelines as well as in the front office, the new regime may want to move forward with their own quarterback. The Seahawks created $4.8 million in cap space by restructuring Smith's deal on Feb. 22, via ESPN's Field Yates.
While this doesn't necessarily mean that the 33-year-old should be expecting a change of scenery during the offseason, he may have some fierce competition in training camp. It appears that the ability to adapt to the playbook from Ryan Grubb, who was hired as Seattle's new offensive coordinator on Feb. 13, will factor into the team's decision.
At this point, it's probably Geno's job to lose. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that Howell won't be a threat to him.
This statement was prior to the trade for Howell, so it's hard to know how much stock to put into it.
As I said earlier, people were making mountains out of the fact that Macdonald said Drew's name first when talking about our quarterback room in an interview... and now Drew is a Giant. Vague coach speak is just vague coach speak. The Seahawks have made very few tangible moves to suggest Geno isn't going to start at this point.
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Overall, I'd say the two most likely possibilities here are:
1) Geno is the starter, Howell is our QB 'in the draft' and we'll see what we have with a guy who is just as young as multiple guys in the draft. There is, in fact, a chance he is our QBOTF.
2) Geno is still the starter, but Schneider wants to hedge that he still might be able to get a QB he wants in the draft. He's got Howell as a backup but he's also here as a possible trade piece if a QB he likes does fall in his lap. Howell's upside--or lack thereof--isn't super important because he's our backup plan.
Any scenario where Geno isn't the starter seems to be a long shot and/or wishful thinking.
If Howell isn’t the starter when the season starts I do expect he will be by midseason.
Based on... what, exactly?