Geno Smith franchise tag seems less likely with Seahawks giving out raises to role players
2/22/2023: Nick Bellore, Phil Haynes contracts imply Seattle won't spend $32 million on Geno
There’s been a lot of talk about how Geno Smith’s franchise tag is an inevitable fallback plan if the Seattle Seahawks aren’t able to come to a long-term agreement, but my question to those members of the media and fanbase continues to be… “How?”
As Seaside Joe broke down not long ago, a $32.4 million franchise tag for Geno complicates what little cap space they have left for a 53-man roster and practice squad. Just the rookies could cost $13 million alone and that breakdown did not include the reported salaries of two players who I expected the Seahawks to let walk in free agency if they had literally any designs on tagging Geno.
As just reported by Mike Garafolo, Nick Bellore’s 2023 salary will be $3.75 million for a special teams captain, a raise of over $1.5 million from his 2022 salary.
One day earlier, Seattle gave Phil Haynes a $4 million guarantee on a one-year deal worth up to $5 million. Haynes is the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team for 2023, assuming that the Seahawks will release Gabe Jackson.
We’ve talked about a lot with Geno Smith’s contract before any pre-free agency news came out this week, let’s dive in deeper with another Seaside Joe bonus article on Wednesday. Remember: 1,451 days in a row and many bonus articles every week, so sign up for a cheap subscription today if you’re a Seahawks fan!