Quarterback Geno Smith completed his third season as Seattle’s starting quarterback. Head coach Mike Macdonald hopes there will be at least a fourth.
“I want Geno here,” Macdonald told reporters Monday. “I think he’s a heck of a player. The first thing we always come back to is what’s best for the team. I feel like Geno is best for the team right now. moment I’m going to be involved in it, ultimately it’s not my It’s a Seahawks decision But Geno knows how we feel about him and we like him as a starting quarterback.
The decision will ultimately be made by general manager John Schneider, who had the final say on the roster last year, following the departure of coach Pete Carroll.
Smith signed a three-year, $75 million contract after the 2022 season. The deal was structured to give the team the opportunity to go on a tear after each of the first two seasons. He now enters the final year of his contract, with a $16 million bonus due March 16 and a base salary of $14.8 million. A $200,000 workout bonus brings the total to $31 million.
The short deadline requires the Seahawks to decide as soon as possible whether they want to activate the third year. The biggest question is whether he will get an extension and a raise.
Smith wanted a new deal after the 2023 season, but that didn’t happen.
Either way, Macdonald’s position on his quarterback is clear. He wants Smith back.
“We’ve done a lot of really good things and one of those things is Geno’s productivity, and that’s something I’m looking forward to building on,” Macdonald said. “I thought he had a really good year, we had a conversation yesterday, and the feeling you get is he’s proud of the things we did, but we felt like we could have done a better job as an offense and as a team and that we could have put ourselves in a position to go to the tournament to take a chance.”
One factor will be the new offensive coordinator. Will they hire someone who will be willing to get the most out of Smith, or will the new offensive coach have a system that Smith will have to adapt to?
“Anytime you bring someone in as a coach, you want to understand what their vision is based on the players we have and how they would deploy everything,” Macdonald said. “It’s definitely going to be a topic of conversation.”
Smith, 34, made it clear he only has a few years left. The Seahawks could hunker down on the final year of the contract and make a decision in 2026, or they could give him security beyond 2025 with a long-term deal.
The challenge will be to determine the right value. The market peak reached $60 million. Where does Smith land on this scale?
In 2024, Smith has thrown for 4,320 yards (good for fourth in the league) and 21 touchdowns. He had 15 interceptions and a passer rating of 93.2.
For any team considering retaining their current quarterback, there is a very important question to ask. If we move on, who will replace him?
