Seahawks, Geno Smith agree to 3-year contract
The contract is worth almost exactly what I said it would be worth a month ago, 3/6/2023
A month ago, I wrote out four projections for potential contracts that made sense for the Seattle Seahawks and Geno Smith. The three-year contract I proposed was worth $107 million. On Monday, it was announced that Geno Smith is signing a deal that is almost exactly that figure.
According to reports, the Seahawks and Geno agreed to a three-year, $105 million contract.
The deal has significant implications for how Seattle plans to proceed moving forward at the quarterback position, not only for the obvious reasons—there’s no way this contract could be shorter than committing to Geno for two years—but also because of the draft. If the Seahawks draft a quarterback with the fifth overall pick, he should make over $6 million in 2023 and over $8 million in 2024.
It’s improbable that Geno’s contract would allow the Seahawks to walk away scot-free after one season although the Derek Carr options contract that I mentioned a month ago as well was structured in that way. I will update this post when more information is available so if you’re reading the e-mail, click the Seaside Joe banner to go to the website.
Updated (kind of) contract terms:
Garafolo says $40 million fully guaranteed at signing with “base value” of 3 years, $75 million. (Does he mean those are the base salaries?) Smith gets $28 million in year one and $30 million in what I assume are total incentives. I’m guessing then that’s $25 million per year in salary and $30 million in incentives=$105 million. This seems to be a lot like the option-base contract I proposed way back that Geno has to earn.
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Will wait for the exact contract terms but the language of "ability to earn $52 million in the first calendar year" implies that indeed Geno will have a team option at the beginning of the 2024 league year. He needs to earn it. BUT I will wait until terms hit before adding to the article.
I am not surprised the two sides agreed to a deal, they wanted it, I couldn't see the franchise tag happening. This avoids that. I am guessing that Chafie Fields saw the Carr deal and thought this was his client's best bet in free agency and will bet on himself again.
Well done, Kenneth - you did your homework and called your shot while most everyone else talked themselves in circles. Impressive.