QB coach Dave Canales leaves Seahawks to be Bucs’ OC. Will a Seattle quarterback join him?

Pete Carroll said he expected to keep his entire coaching staff intact.

Yet he didn’t block one of his assistants from a taking a promotion elsewhere.

Quarterbacks coach Dave Canales confirmed Wednesday night he is leaving the Seahawks to become the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Humbled by my time with @Seahawks and honored to have worked with some of the best talent in the game. Thank you to the players, coaches, administration and the 12s for the memories. Thrilled for what’s to come, absolutely. But in this moment, I’m thankful for 13 years!” Canales posted on his Twitter account Wednesday night.

That is a reference to the 13 years Canales worked under Carroll on multiple staffs. That dates to USC in 2009. Canales was Carroll’s assistant strength coach for his final year as the Trojans’ head coach.

Carroll brought Canales to Seattle the following year to be the Seahawks’ wide receivers coach. Canales became Carroll’s quarterbacks coach for Russell Wilson in Seattle in 2018. Canales then was the team’s passing-game coordinator in 2020 and ‘21. He went back to quarterback coach for the Seahawks with Geno Smith starting in the 2022 season.

Canales, 41, also confirmed multiple reports from NFL Network and others about his new promotion in Tampa Bay.

“BUCs coming tomorrow!” Canales posted on Twitter immediately below his post saying goodbye and thanks to Seattle.

Thursday morning, Canales posted on his Twitter account: “Let’s go @Buccaneers! Ready to get to work, get better every day and win some championships! Thankful to be part of The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Nation! Let’s Get It!”

Canales replaces Byron Leftwich in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers fired Leftwich last month.

Could Canales becoming the Bucs’ new offensive architect mean one of his quarterbacks from the Seahawks’ 2022 season will join him in Tampa?

Drew Lock wants to play

Drew Lock was the Seahawks’ backup to Pro Bowl quarterback Smith this past season. Lock’s contract ended with Seattle’s playoff loss at San Francisco last month.

Smith’s contract ended that day, too. But the Seahawks have made re-signing Smith to a multiyear contract their first priority this offseason.

Smith said this month while at his first Pro Bowl in Las Vegas “it’s looking very good” he re-signs with Seattle for 2023 and beyond.

“Yeah, we’ve had talks, and we are in the process of getting all that settled right now,” Smith said Feb. 3 on SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Pro Bowl Live program with hosts Amber Theoharis and former NFL player Kirk Morrison. “It’s looking very good.

“We think we can get some things done, but obviously those things take time.

“This is the process that I hate about the NFL, because I just want to play football. But it’s a business, as well. So we’ve got to take care of business, and then we’ll get back to the football.”

Smith praised Canales during his season in which the quarterback set four Seahawks season records for passing. That included breaking marks for passes, completions and passing yards previously held by Wilson, the man he replaced.

Wednesday night, Smith congratulated Canales online for his new job with Tampa Bay.

“@DcoachCanales well deserved!!” Smith posted on the QB’s Twitter account.

Lock also likes Canales.

He threw to the coach just about every day.

The Seahawks acquired the former Denver starter last March from the Broncos in the Wilson trade. Lock said the day after this past season ended he thought the coaching and environment in Seattle was “special.”

Lock was usually the last Seahawk left on the practice field during the 2022 season. He and third-string quarterback Sean Mannion spent up to a half hour throwing every pass in the coaches’ script for that day’s practice, often to Canales and other assistants.

Then, Lock and Mannion would throw every pass in that week’s game plan.

Lock said the veteran Mannion taught him the need to have thrown passes the coaches are going to call in a game, in case he entered it unexpectedly. Lock never did. He watched his entire first Seahawks season.

“This is a special place,” Lock told The News Tribune Jan. 15, on his way out Seahawks headquarters into the offseason. “I learned, a lot.

“But as a competitor, I want to play.”

He seemingly would get that opportunity with Canales in Tampa Bay.

Tom Brady just retired from the Buccaneers.

Seahawks’ contact talks with Geno Smith

Negotiations between Smith and the Seahawks are underway. General manager John Schneider’s and chief contract executive Matt Thomas’s task is to re-sign Smith before the 32-year-old quarterback gets his first career opportunity to shop in free agency.

That market opens March 15. It’s where and when Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Carolina and the about 10 other quarterback-needy teams could become tempted to offer more than Seattle wants to pay Smith.

Schneider said on Seattle’s KJR radio two weeks ago when asked by afternoon host Ian Furness do you expect to get Smith re-signed?: “Yeah. Yeah, we do.”

That echoed what Carroll has said since Seattle’s season ended at San Francisco Jan. 14.