A Geno Smith-Seahawks contract proposal
Geno Smith has been the best bargain in the NFL this season.
Geno Smith has been the best bargain in the NFL this season.
Long-time followers of the newsletter know that these aren’t words I expected to write, going so far as to use Smith’s bargain deal as a strike against him, but if there’s ever a time to be wrong it’s when the other side of the argument is the best story in football.
The reason that the Seattle Seahawks are such a surprise is almost entirely centered around Smith. First because everyone, including me, expected them to be among the NFL’s worst teams this season because Seattle had “downgraded” from Russell Wilson to Smith. And now because Smith has grown before our eyes from a journeyman backup into a reliable starter throwing punches against Kyler Murray and Justin Herbert and winning.
Smith’s $3.5 million contract is the same as Buffalo Bills quarterback Case Keenum (a remarkably apt comparison that I will come back to later), as well as Jets backup Joe Flacco, and less than Mason Rudolph, Mitchell Trubisky, Taylor Heinicke, Jacoby Brissett, Baker Mayfield, and Teddy Bridgewater. Smith ranks 37th among quarterbacks in 2022 salary cap hit. He has the highest passer rating in the conference.
I believe there are still hurdles for Smith to climb over before calling his story a finished book. But no other player in the league has been this great of a bargain and Pete Carroll makes it sound like Geno Smith is the quarterback who the Seahawks plan to have beyond this season.
“There’s no restrictions on Geno,” said Carroll in the postgame press conference, referring to Smith’s understanding of the offense and physical abilities being an advantage that makes him a complete starting quarterback. “He can do whatever we think of.”
There’s nothing I can see happening this season that would make me think it unreasonable for the Seahawks to draft a quarterback with their first pick next year, if that’s what they end up choosing to do. The Chiefs wanted Patrick Mahomes when they already had Alex Smith, should they have not done that? But whether Seattle picks a quarterback in the first round, the third round, or the sixth round, the “most Pete Carroll road” towards starting at quarterback in Week 1 of 2023 is Geno Smith.
Smith presents the least amount of effort towards getting a player prepared to start for the Seahawks next season, with Drew Lock serving as the closest second option. Seattle could keep both and still draft a quarterback.
When should the Seahawks take care of Geno Smith? There could be a way to get peace of mind at the quarterback position for next season, to reward Smith for out-playing his contract, and to still have an out in case something goes wrong between now and next year or the year after that.