Geno Smith should take discount to stay with Seahawks
Geno Smith should take discount to stay with Seahawks
It's not for every player, but Geno could stand more to lose by taking more money to play for another team
I’ve long pushed back on fans who expect players to “take a discount” because it is almost always based in fantasy, this idea that your favorite athlete will give you the best of both worlds. He gets less, you get more. You. You. You!
But players are people and people need money. Often, people will look to get the most money available to them from different offers with similar job responsibilities and in the NFL that can mean a gap of tens of millions of dollars. So that’s why I have never taken issue with an athlete who follows the money, whether that’s Alex Rodriguez leaving the Mariners for the Rangers or even Russell Wilson knowing that the Broncos were going to give him the contract extension he wanted last year that the Seahawks wouldn’t budge to offer him.
However, in the case of Geno Smith and his impending free agency, I actually do think that it could be more beneficial for him to take a discount to stay in Seattle. There’s nothing selfish about this message I’m delivering, as many of you already know that I’ve strongly advocated for the Seahawks to search for a quarterback upgrade after the season.
And longtime Seaside Joe readers also know that I hope to write newsletter posts based on what I think is possible, not necessarily what I think is right or what I would do.
Earlier today: An alternate reality in which the Seahawks fired Pete Carroll and built around Russell Wilson
After consideration, there’s a mounting list of reasons in the “pros” side of Geno’s“pros and cons” that I think should make Geno Smith strongly consider taking Pete Carroll’s offer—almost sure to be lower than other NFL head coaches—to stay in Seattle over following the money that would take him to another city in 2023.
Geno, you’ve been an exception above exceptions all year long and it’s time to do it once again: You might just want to take the discount to stay with the Seahawks.