Breaking: Geno Smith and the #Seahawks are finalizing a three-year contract extension worth $105M with the ability to earn $52M in the first calendar year, sources tell @theScore.
Smith earned Comeback Player of the Year and Pro Bowl honors after leading the NFL in completion %. pic.twitter.com/RbMMXJ6Uke
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 6, 2023
Here are my thoughts…
The Seahawks made no secret of their desire to get this done and, like most people, I expected it would get done. Geno Smith is very popular in the locker-room. He had a career renaissance in 2022. This was the ideal place for him and the Seahawks clearly felt moving on, for the purpose of saving money and re-setting with another veteran at quarterback, wasn’t something they wanted to entertain.
I’d expect they’ll structure this contract with a low year-one cap hit to save cap space ahead of free agency. I’d also imagine there’s a reasonable out for the team. On the other side, Smith’s agent gets to contact the media and tell them he can earn $52M in the calendar year — a sum he’ll almost certainly never reach. They can talk about a $100m contract, when we’ll soon learn the reality of the deal. Either way, they can promote this as an amazing job on social media.
Nevertheless, Smith stays — so what happens now?
For me, very little changes. There will be an argument that this indicates the Seahawks will pass on the quarterbacks in round one and focus on defense.
That could be what they do but there’s a lot more to this.
No team ever wants to go into the draft showing their hand. It’s why the Bears signed Mike Glennon to a three-year, $45m contract in 2017 — announced him as ‘their guy’ at a big press conference — then a few weeks later traded up to #2 overall to draft Mitchell Trubisky.
The Seahawks have previous here too. They spent big money to acquire Matt Flynn in free agency — then duly replaced him with rookie Russell Wilson.
I’m not suggesting they re-signed Smith simply to play a game of ‘draft poker’ with the rest of the league. It’s one of the offshoots of the deal though. The predominant narrative will be — the Seahawks have their guy, they’re not going to draft a quarterback. I think they’ll be quite comfortable with other teams making that assumption.
It’s also important to hedge against scenarios that can go against you. Imagine if you let Smith walk because you’ve got your eye on a quarterback in the draft. Then the three you like are off the board before pick #5. You’re screwed.
Now they avoid any ‘worst case scenario’. They can let the board come to them at #5. If one of the top quarterbacks is available, they can take them if they wish and there’s no pressure to start that player in 2023. If they want to go defense, they can do. But they’re not desperately praying things go a certain way.
I’ve long argued the ideal situation is probably to mimic the Chiefs when they had Alex Smith under contract and drafted Patrick Mahomes. You take pressure off the rookie and have a starter good enough to avoid a weekly ‘put the new guy in’ debate in the media.
If they are planning to draft Anthony Richardson, they just set things up perfectly. He needs a redshirt year (and even embraced that himself during interviews at the combine). It’s OK saying they could’ve signed Drew Lock as a cheaper bridge. What happens if Lock struggles? The demand for Richardson to start before he’s ready would be intense. That risk is far less now they’ve retained Smith, who already has a year as the starter in the bag.
Or they can draft defense, which I’ve always said I’m comfortable with. Will Anderson is a good football player with an A+ character. You can make a strong case for taking him. I’m not convinced he’ll last to #5. I’m open-minded about Tyree Wilson depending on how he tests at his pro-day but I can’t lie — the idea of drafting another 23-year-old Big-12 defender in round one — with Seattle’s recent history of using first round picks on older Big-12 defenders (L.J. Collier, Jordyn Brooks) doesn’t fill me with much excitement.
That will be the media consensus in the aftermath of this news though. The Seahawks are going to go defense or trade down. Re-signing Geno has confirmed everything.
I remain unconvinced and think everything remains on the table.
I’ll end by linking to my piece from earlier, which had a whole section on why I think John Schneider will love the quarterbacks in this draft.
I’ll also offer this thought…
Does anyone really think Schneider, the GM who wanted to draft Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes when he had Russell Wilson, the GM who covets big, physical traits and upside — watched those quarterbacks in Indianapolis on Saturday and decided — ‘they’re not for me’?
I’m not buying that.
I think re-signing Geno Smith was always part of the plan — and it was never likely to have much impact on the #5 pick.
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Doubt that this takes them out of the Richardson market
100% still in play. I’m going to allow myself to wait before reacting on this until I see the guarantees and contract structure.
Me too, although I’m still probably not going to like it.
I’m sure there will be no trading up scenario though.
ugh
It doesn’t take us out of the market for drafting any of the QBs. It better not, anyway. And as these contracts go, it’s probably more a 2 year deal. And ask Matt Flynn if this guarantees he’ll still be the starter week 1.
Hot take: Richardson will be a bust. Just isn’t a reliable enough passer against actual defenses. Combine was great for him because he was able to run fast, jump high, throw against air and do a standing backflip. Watch his film from 2022 and you will see plenty of examples of bad footwork, throws that sail, inaccurate passes, and a total lack of touch.
Watch Richardson against UGA and then watch Stroud against UGA. The differences are startling.
Watching his film shows a ton of fantastic passing ability. Including the UGA game. If you want to compare to Stroud (who I also like) put Anthony Richardson in Ohio State’s offense and see what happens
Put Richardson in Ohio State’s offense and that is a much worse offense. Not sure what you mean by fantastic passing ability in the UGA game. He was airmailing throws all game and displayed an inability to hit the open man downfield consistently. Not the kind of project I want as a top 5 pick.
Joe Burrow was just as good/bad as Richardson his first year starting in college. To act like there’s no room for improvement seems pretty ridiculous.
Ive watched all these Qbs against UGA. Stroud is my QB1 and the better prospect to me but that doesn’t mean Richardson will bust. These are the 2 in the draft I see having the best chance to be a franchise qb. After hearing many Richardson interviews I just cant see him not thriving in the NFL. Hes got the intangibles and it factor in addition to the athleticism and arm talent. Of all the QBs, he seems the most ‘Seahawk’-y to me of all of them, even Stroud.
Not at all. If anything, it might set us up for Richardson.
What it does take us out of is the FA market… 😒
Agree with all, someone any of the QB’s still very much in play at 5. Especially the developmental guys or even a trade back if market materializes as such.
Would have preferred winging it with Drew Lock at a price under 5 milliion and drafting a QB. This just provides more security. As SFO has shown a lot of the times you need more than one QB. I can see Geno being the mentoring type, with all that he has been thru.
That 52 million in first year being thrown around is even better, less hit on years 2 thru 3.
This next thing may be too much of a poker play, but also prevents others from moving up to the 3/4 slot. That may be a stretch, but at least we are not desperate in that regard. Let’s just hope JS hits what he wants.
Hmmm..
“Buzz continues to pick up about Chicago liking Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson as much as those mentioned, if not more,” he said. “Wilson even confirmed he’s already met with the team twice. Wilson may be attainable outside of the initial five selections—which makes the possibility of a trade further down the order more intriguing than initially believed.”
Yikes…
$52 million the first year. What is the dead $ hit if he is cut after the season?
Don’t let all of the incentives in the first year get your mind twisted up. There’s no way we’re gonna have a huge did it cap hit if anything happens to him in your one of this deal.
Depends on bonuses and guarantees. My guess is the Seahawks are on the hook for 50 million no matter what happens.
The language is ‘up to $52m’
And this is what gets into Geno’s bank account after taxes, which will include the totality of the signing bonus, which cap will be spread throughout the life of the deal.
Minus taxes, not after taxes.
Not Derek Carr money, thankfully. Want to see the guaranteed money, hopefully it’s less than $50M spread out over 3 years
Carr’s deal is really 3 for 100 though. Hopefully Geno’s deal isn’t as good as first reported too.
Hopefully we’re looking at closer to 30 per year over the first two with a clear get-out on the third year.
Let me be clear that I was on the do not sign Geno camp. I don’t think it changes a lot as for draft strategy and still find our QBotF. This seems like a compromise between Pete (who loves Geno) and John (I’m getting a QBotF). But I feel this is the contingency plan if we do not get the top 4 QB and end up drafting Hooker (like Rob outlined as a potential plan).
So much for the “$20-25 Mill” dream. Seems like fair market price @ $35mil/yr.
Why not let him test the market? This doesnt make sense to do this now.
This totally makes sense now. The Combine is where all of the league discusses contracts, rumors, and free agency. I grantee that this contract amount was discussed with multiple teams with Geno’s agents. Those representatives would then bring the amount that other teams would pay back to Geno and the hawks. this is what set the market for the contract. this is why all of the contracts are getting done after the combine.
Thats all well and good, but Id rather other teams pay him that deal in FA and get a 3rd rd comp pick in return. Still doesnt make sense to do this now. They should be trading up to get a QB instead of blowing all their FA money on a damn JAG
Agree completely, sadly. We are not winning a Super Bowl with Geno Smith, he does not tilt the field. 9-8 and getting blown out of the playoffs is the ceiling here. This is a complete waste of resources.
9-8 with a first round playoff exit matches up with Pete as well. Solid but nothing great
Hey now, we usually had 10-12 wins before our first round playoff exit. Geno Smith: Not Russell Wilson, same results.
Agree, this is a completely treading water type move. It does nothing but push hawks toward middle of the pack for the next 2 years minimum.
Profootballtalk.com says that he has a chance to earn up to 50 mil. which means incentives, for example, if we win the super bowl, Geno will make 25 Million. these incentives will not count against the cap until they are earned. So he could get 10 mil guaranteed, with 40 million in incentives. so relax until the full details are released. and yes you are all SNL, “Debbie Downers”
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/06/report-seahawks-geno-smith-agree-to-a-three-year-105-million-deal/
Agreed. I think many of us got so tired of the sign Geno at all cost fans that we forgot there was a time we wanted to keep Geno, just at the right price. I’m a little disappointed but keeping a functional qb keeps a functional squad. Let’s wait for the details of the contract and the draft before hitting the panic button.
I admit I’m being a debbie downer, and I will also admit I appreciate your perspective on this.
Crap…
Maybe Schneider doesn’t want to pay the price to move up or maybe he likes a later round qb. Hopefully one of the big 3 drops to us bc Schneider has to be drooling to get one of them
Thats what I dont understand, just pay the price to move up and get the long term answer. Doing this deal now is just stupid IMO.
Man most on this comment section are SNL “Debbie Downers” what happen to having faith that John Schneider will have a good idea of what is happening with the teams in front of him in the draft order, and be able to adjust accordingly. Rob Stanton has posted a few articles about trusting John Schneider when it comes to talent evaluation of the QB’s. If John sees a QB worth trading up for, he will. If he doesn’t see a QB worth moving up for, he won’t. There have been numerous comments from Pete Carrol that John Schneider predicted what was going to happen in the draft. Granted Pete may have been blowing smoke up my sunshine, but still. there is a chance that John knows who the 4 teams in front of him are going to do. I do think that John is smart enough to evaluate the risks associated with signing Geno, as well as the cost prohibitive nature of this deal, and have enough foresight to know that he may be giving up on free agents. lets just relax and wait for the contract details folks.
Has nothing to do with being “Debbie Downers” weve seen these stupid overpays in FA before. They had no reason to do this deal now, the seahawks were only bidding against themselves. You let Geno test the market first, not overpay for a guy who had half a decent season and regressed significantly in teh 2nd half.
Can we avoid just name-calling
People are allowed to not like a decision by the team
Agreed, the appeal to authority fallacy that some people partake in is quite disingenuous. Newsflash, GMs, HCs can make bad decisions or decisions that warrant criticism.
Classic internet tactic
Up there with trying to imply someone is being irrational or emotional, or just offering a smear to avoid having to engage
My apologies for the name calling. Sorry.
Tom, if you’ve been following the long history of Pete Carroll’s drafting and free agent contracts, you would see a few years of brilliance followed by many years of what the heck? This is his third rebuild. Only the first rebuild was successful. Now we hope that last year’s excellent draft will be continued. But with the cap getting tied up by high non productive salaries – it’s an issue to hire any player at a high salary. Even with it being structured to be low the first year.
I do follow the long history of what Pete does in free agency and drafting. I have a feeling that Pete no longer has as much control as he previously did. I base this on the larger public profile John Schneider is taking this draft cycle, and the meeting with ownership after last season. We know something went down, we just don’t know what. I am guessing John was placed in the driver seat for personnel. I do realize that John and Pete have made some poor decisions and I am open to them making mistakes. My initial posts were intended to have people relax a little because we don’t have details of the Geno contract yet. it was a poor attempt at humor that came across as me being a troll, which was not my intent. the way the news releases are currently worded it sounds like there will be a lot of incentives associated with the Geno contract, which could be exactly what we want. If the 50 mil total that Geno could earn in the first year is structured like a bonus of 40 million if he wins the super bowl, then this contract is a win for us. we would all be happy to see the hawks pay Geno 40 million if he gets us to the promised land. I have a optomisim that we will all like the details of the contract when we see them.
Hope I’m wrong but feel we will regret this move. SMH
Ditto and ditto
Agree
💯 don’t like this move at all. Just be bold and develop a young team.
Utter and complete waste of money! Geno not that good, never was, never will be. Praying this incentive laden deal that they can get out of next season. If this is the total flop it could be, it should be the death nail for PC/JS. Also hoping they keep their draft blueprint from last year versus the fill the holes mentality they used with little to show for it when Russ was here.
FYI, Geno holds several Seahawks QB records.
Like Completions/Attempts/Yards in a season because he had an extra game…?
100% this, last half of season Geno clearly struggled with the expectations of his newfound productivity. I appreciate Geno (he made Hawks exciting again!) and I understand exactly why they resigned him. But I have zero faith he will bring home a SB to the Seahawks. If this is just a move to stabilize the position for a rookie QB I’m ALL IN, otherwise, building around Geno for a 3 year run tempers my enthusiasm.
I already regret it
I would agree if they don’t take a QB at 5. Lets say they take AR or Levis at #5 and give him a chance to learn from Geno and hone mechanics.By early accounts the deal looks front loaded or incentive laden perhaps making it moveable. Maybe Geno isn’t the guy to win us another Super Bowl, but if he has a similiar year to what he had last season (even if he is 80%) of what he was, he will have value to a QB needy to where you can recoup draft capital AND have Geno mentor the next guy
Wow this is just terrible
Well, there goes the ability to acquire FA’s this year. They’d have to move serious amounts of money out into years 2 and 3 to make any other signings work.
I think they let the draft come to them, now, and don’t trade up. They’ll keep the picks they have and hope one of their preferred QB’s fall, and if not, they take be defender available.
I don’t remember Breer ever being a mouthpiece, but this kinda feels like it tbh. I mean, 2 years younger…? Trying hard again to claim victory?
I truly hope I am wrong, but I hope all this quarterback talk from the past weekend wasn’t all just negotiating tactic…
Feeling pretty deflated eight now
The way the reporting has been worded makes it seem like not even the entire $52 million has been guaranteed (otherwise why say “in the first calendar year?”), so my guess is that there’s plenty of room here for both the Seahawks to draft a QB and/or move on from Geno after this coming season if it doesn’t work out.
Thank you Geno now I don’t have to worry anymore for at least a year. Sorry Drew Lock your gone. We pick QB in the 5 and then we let the competition begin. I expect Geno to play next if he preforms like first last then it’s all good. If plays like he did last half we could see a change.
Agreed
Congrats Seahawks, you outbid yourself!
This 🙁
Sadly possible and it wouldn’t be the first time.
Every signing this off-season was them outbidding themselves.
This season? How about many, many seasons.
AGAIN!!!
Crap
It’s time we seriously discuss trading up for 1. I can see 5 being a desirable spot for the bears, I think QBs go 1-4, they can get their top player still. How much different will the price for 1 be than 3, especially being in the same division as the 3 pick will add a premium.
Trade Up? After blowing all the free agency resources on Geno. Haha this keep getting better. So we give all of our top picks and start the season with the same defense we had last year. Sounds like a plan
They haven’t blown all the resources
No criticism coming from Elmer. This does change the likelihood of some of the assumptions we have made about the 2023 draft being true though. Here are some alternative assumptions:
a). They are confident that Richardson and/or Levis will be available at 5, or
b). The QB they really like is Hooker or DTR
c) The early draft choices will be defense
We can’t even afford the same defense we had last year. Looks like we have to make cuts just to afford are roster now with draft picks. Not to mention we still have to sign players to fill out the roster
Big mistake ..Seahawks again bidding against themselves. Massive overpay. 35million on tier 2 Qb . Ughhh.
Shouldn’t have expected anything else. They do it every year.
Ugh. A potential $50+ million first year? What the ACTUAL f*ck?
Unless he’s in MVP consideration next season, this was a MASSIVE waste of cap. Be interested to see what the guarantees are, as opposed to the incentives.
I’m thinking there’s no way he see the end of this contract. If we draft a QB, Geno is gone after the first year.
They are not drafting a QB. They just signed their QB 🙁 SMH
Matt Flynn ring any bells.
We have to wait to see the real numbers but Geno at 35 mil per year is FUCKING AWFUL.
Holy shit this really takes the wind out of my sails.
The best we can hope for is that the third year is almost completly worthless, and that we can get out with like lets say 5-10 mil dead cap year 3 but wow, if he plays like he did most of his career this is an epically bad contract. Not as bad as Wilsons currently but if he regresses yikes…
Geno was already reverting to his old self the second half of the season. If that happens those are two back to back horrible signings by John Schneider. And yet we thought he learned his lesson with Jamal Adams.
I hoped the took another path, but Rob told us so many times about Smith and Mahomes, so maybe this is the WAY.
Let’s just hope that the contract is structured decently.
And what about the Peacock. Any chance he can provide some much needed cap relief?
That would be a bit of a silver lining, if this meant the demise of the Peacock.
I thought if that too. Post June 1 cut to free up cap? I can always dream…
New center, Peacock out in 2023, taking AR at #5, all dreams coming true…
And yet, some “post-combine” mock drafts have us still taking Jalen Carter at 5. Are they on a different planet, or are we at SDB on a different planet?
52 million year one.?????
That will likely contain incentives that will be very difficult to achieve e.g. win the Super Bowl, lead the NFL on TD passes, etc.
This is probably a combination of salary plus signing bonus, and them wanting to frontload the contract to have an easy out later. still curious how they keep the cap hit low tho…
Honestly i don’t get the panic. It might still be a basically 1 year deal with 20 mil guaeanteed and this 100 mil number is to make Geno and his agent look good. It says “worth” 105 mil, does not mean much.
Logically you’re of course correct, but they DO have a history of overpaying their own/bidding against themselves.
And here I was telling my buddy they learn their lesson from Jamal Adams and quandary diggs
Exactly, Rokas! I was in the camp of letting Geno test free agency to see what he could get, but was going to be fine if he walked in free agency. This deal (without knowing the guarantees) seems fair for both sides.
We need to remember that Geno is well liked in the locker room and the Seahawks did not give him a contract over 3 years. If Geno continues to play at an above average level, they could actually trade him due to his reasonable contract.
This deal does not prohibit Seattle from selecting another QB in the upcoming draft (and I hope they do).
Relax, my friends.
Too soon to make final judgement. Gotta see guarantees, options, timeline, etc. Probably tightens the heck out of the cap for next year, though…
100%. It’s asset retention, and it adds flexibility in general – and specifically w/r/t Richardson who probably could benefit from a year learning the ropes.
If anything, it maybe decreases the likelihood we were taking Young (if that ever was a possibilty), b/c he is likely the most Day 1 ready guy.
So, Geno is a bridge QB. A bridge until the next head coach has a seasoned Hooker to work with in 2 years.
Did I type Hooker? I meant Richardson or Levis.
Richardson makes the most sense, but Hooker may very well be the backup plan.
Why are people saying they’re not taking a QB because of this? If anything, it feels like they’re preparing for the possibility.
right…it’s not a 5 yr guaranteed deal or anything…
💯.
This only confirms what John and Pete have been saying all along. Nothing really new to this story. Geno is a fan favorite in the greater Seahawks universe. It all adds up.
I stated this earlier and it’s also been stated by Rob: they are now 100% set up to take on a QB at #5, if that was their plan. Richardson can now learn from someone who has been through it all. He can learn the ins and outs, the ups and downs and benefit immensely from a guy like Geno.
Pete just met with AR and it went about a well as any visit I can ever remember, DKs included. When a prospect gushes about the meeting as if he’s just met an idol of his, that speaks volumes.
When the contract is broken down it will be a standard, boiler plate deal with an out after 2024. Next year they can cut Adams, Diggs and Dissly. That frees up a lot of money.
To me this all adds up to an investment in the future not an attempt to go all in this year. They see the future and realize that having a viable, winning QB will have a positive affect on all their rookies and 2nd year players.
The devil will be in the detail, I’ll wait and see what the contract is like before I lose my mind.
But it looks like Geno got the market rate for how he played last season, we can’t begrudge him that.
Will be interesting to see what we do with the number 5 pick now, take a QB to sit behind Geno and learn the ropes or take a defensive stud.
It makes the path for Richardson clear but I don’t see a trade up anymore. It is probably the smart play to see if someone falls to five and keep your draft stock. I feel a little deflated though.
Really is no need to overreact either way until the full details are announced. APY feels a bit high for what his market should have been, but these initial announcements are normally worse than they seem.
Sounds like a lot of it will be frontloaded and I’m guessing the “next calendar year” implies some sort of roster bonus at the start of the next league year. It’s not as big or long of a commitment as it seems but it would also take them out of the running for any top QB except possibly Richardson. I think Levis is too old to draft as a guaranteed 1+ year redshirt.
Stroud.
Wouldn’t hurt me one bit to draft him and sit him. The amount of qbs who could have used a redshirt year is pretty long and varied.
Considering this comes right after the combine and Carr’s deal, I have to imagine Schneider believed Geno would’ve been offered something slightly higher if he hit FA. I wished he actually let it play out to try to get something more reasonable. The only thing I’ll cling to with this deal is the hope to draft Anthony Richardson and let him learn behind Geno (who I think would be a fantastic mentor).
As some have stated, the combine is the beginning of the illegal tampering period. Maybe John got wind of Jones pending deal and he just saw Carr’s contract, too.
Holding my emotions, waiting for Cha to post…
Yeah, me too. Need some more information.
On the face of it, though, looks like another boneheaded salary decision. Similar to ones they make all the time.
What was Cha’s projection a while back and how was that structured?
You don’t have to wait for cha, you can literally just go here https://overthecap.com/ and when his contract is posted we can see what his cap hits and dead money hits are for each year. I’m F5’ing like a mofo…
my bad you were asking what his projection was instead of asking to wait for an eventual cha breakdown…
This was his article https://seahawksdraftblog.com/curtis-allen-talking-through-a-geno-smith-extension
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/curtis-allen-talking-through-a-geno-smith-extension
I bet he ends up being dang close. He said 3yrs/$96m and Geno got 3yrs/$105m. That difference could just be incentives.
I don’t get the “UGH!”s. For those who don’t want Geno at all, okay I get it. But for those that were kind of hoping for the Alex Smith -> Patrick Mahomes eight-ball in the corner pocket maneuver (or attempted maneuver), as I am hoping for… I don’t see what’s so bad about this.
These initial numbers always overstate the player’s actual compensation and the team’s real-world cap usage. This actually sounds like the kind of deal that works out to a reasonable cap hit this year, with another built-in cap hit next year (even if we cut him), and an easy-out 3rd year. That’s exactly the kind of deal to make if you want to A) keep a good player, B) keep your options open.
Exactly. Let geno walk….it looks basically guaranteed to the league we are taking a qb come draft time.
You don’t waste tens of millions in cap space just to psych out the league…and the QB you just signed for said millions.
It’s not purely a psych-out, of course. It’s a hedge. Quarterbacks are extremely valuable. There’s nothing wrong with having two. Geno’s a good player. Last year might have been a flash in the pan, or (and here I just have to point this out) we don’t know! He could be better next year than last year. There’s an assumption that this is purely wishful thinking. No, it’s optimistic. It’s fully within the range of possibility. Likewise, Geno sucking terribly is also within range.
I think Schneider believes in the “throw spaghetti at the wall” approach to finding a guy. That’s why they re-signed Tarvaris Jackson, that’s why they traded for Whitehurst, that’s why they signed Flynn, that’s why they drafted Wilson. They believed in all those guys for different reasons. Spaghetti mode doesn’t mean “just pick random dudes” but it does mean “We can’t know for sure WHO’s gonna be the guy, so we need to take several shots without over-comitting, so let’s try several different avenues we feel have a good chance.”
With Wilson’s reign of competence and reliability coming to an end, they have shifted back into spaghetti mode. That’s been Lock, Geno, and, I believe, a rookie.
Sounds reasonable. Definitionally a hedge against A) the top 3 qb’s going in the top four and B) Seattle being outbid on trading up to get one of them.
If we divide genos contract by three and it was all guaranteed and it’s ot he would be the 10th highest paid qb before Lanark and Daniel Jones get new deals.
Most likely when we see the real numbers he’ll be around the 14-16th highest paid qb.
In 2017 Alex Smith was the 16 highest paid qb when they drafted Patrick Mahomes.
It’s not a psyche out.
Didn’t want Gino at all there’s no future there. It’s just mediocrity at best
The way I see it is that if I trust JS in his evaluation and drafting of QBs (Wilson, scouting/wanting Mahomes and Allen) then I should also trust him when it comes to re-signing Geno. I’m not saying he’s infallible when it comes to QBs but why would I think he knows what he’s doing when it comes to drafting QBs but suddenly has no clue when it comes to veteran QBs?
I smell NLTBEs. Let’s wait until we see the guaranteed number and signing bonus info.
Let’s all wait til the fine print.
Not too long ago Matt Flynn got at the time a very lucrative contract on the back of four games. I remember that working out pretty well when it was done.
Bummed that it takes us out of the FA market almost certainly.
For those looking to tge draft to fix the defense apologies in advance but if history is any indicator that won’t solve the line issues next year.
Hopefully Hurtt can shore up his own coaching.
Matt Flynn: 3 year deal, 20.5m, 9m guaranteed.
Geno Smith: 3 year deal, 105m, ??m guaranteed?
If similar percentages that’d come out to 46m guaranteed
Go look up the top paid players that year.
6.5 million cap and 10 mil guaranteed was a ton of money for a guy with four games.
Yep. Didn’t mean to imply that I disagreed with you, was just curious if the two deals were similar and if we could use it to guess the guaranteed money. They appear to be very similar.
Apologies.
I’ve probably read and not commented to a ton of bad takes so I read yours wrong.
That’s my bad.
Too many overreactions here before we know the true contract details. The initial numbers reported by a player’s agent are almost never an accurate description of the actual deal.
Agreed. But my initial reaction is that I’m pleased that it doesn’t look like we’ll be hindered too badly by a massive cap hit that will affect future seasons.
Finally someone I agree with!
This is probably more like a 2-year deal with an easy out after year two and a slightly painful out after year one. Probably 50-60m guaranteed and some crazy incentives he could earn in year one.
Essentially, I imagine it’s a hedge in case you do grab a QB in the draft.
We will see once the final terms are released
Guessing its a 2yr with ability to get out after this year. Gteed $35mln 1yr, 17mln roster bonus next spring to get to the 52mln in 1 calendar yr… Need to see details to really rate but Geno gets paid, Hawks don’t have a long term commitment, Seems like a win win. Geno could have another contract in him at this age.
Decided to pay the gold price, not the iron.
I hope CJ Stroud rewrites record books.
Why over pay a QB and not let him see his market. Geno regressed in the second half wont be surprised to see the same thing happening again but worse. There are way cheaper options out there that can be a bridge QB and who are they bidding against to pay that much.
PC wants to compete now with the bridge QB…
The devils going to be in the details here. Let’s wait for the breakdown.
We are still in a redshirt QB situation which brings in Richardson and Hooker as potential targets. I do think it removes Levis from the equation but maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.
I’m gonna wait to pass judgement until final details, but sounds like there’ll be some big cap hits in 24 and 25.
Also, good for Schultz to get the credit here. Dude has had questionable sources if I recall, but got a big one here.
Schultz is on a consistent run of breaking stories
Pending the details, this feels like a deal no one else would be willing to match. And yet…
Hard to hold judgement but i’ve seen this too many times before. Massively overpaying for somebody they don’t need. This will go down with the Adams trade as historically bad for the team. As in we got no money to hire defensive free agents now. Oh well, it was only a matter of time before they screwed up the contracts and cap – again.
This is exactly how I feel, more years of mediocrity with no money to spend on free agents and build a good roster
No money, and two lost 1st round picks that could’ve been traded up to select…?
Very, very much doubt that it’s as bad as the Adams trade.
I’m not going to freak out about this. I’m sure it’s heavily incentivized. It’s probably somewhere along the lines of 30-35 million guaranteed the first year and tons of incentives such as: lead the league in comp. % again, pro bowl, win a playoff game, throw 30 plus TDS, etc. I don’t think this takes us out of a possible trade up at all. We can always trade Geno next year, like Rob has been saying, if he has another good year and we draft a QB. It could be a win now and win later type of thing and a compromise between John and Pete.
Last time I looked they didn’t have 30 million. So who’s getting cut now? The cap has been hammered for next 2 years
We need to see the details but Geno got a fair market deal and three years IMO makes him a bridge. I think it guarantees they draft a QB of the future this year at #5 or later in the draft. Personally I’m happy for Geno and if said QB looks like a stud we will be able to trade Geno for a decent pick. It’s a win win in my book.
This happening first thing post Combine tells me Seattle made Geno this offer and let him explore his reception in Indianapolis.
Which tells me it’s a team-friendly offer. Which means nothing’s changed.
Even if he plays it out it doesn’t look like a stupid deal, not to mention they’ll reap the benefit of a Geno who played well enough to play out his deal.
So far, this offseason has been pretty clockwork according to what we’ve been expecting at sdb.
the timing certainly seems to tally with that. Hopefully leaves all avenues open now. Plus if geno has a decent season he will have decent trade value as well if the plan comes together right. Good for the team…good for geno…hopeffully
Signing Geno also makes waiting on Hendon Hooker a little bit more appealing, if Stroud Levis and Richardson are gone at #5. A hedge, as you say Rob.
I don’t think that there is much that makes that appealing. That’s not a good consolation prize at all.
Agreed, BK. It’s one of Stroud/Levis/Richardson or bust. Hooker is not appealing at all as our QBOTF.
Tien
Well I guess this answers the question of Lock being QB 1b?
The ‘$52m in the calendar year’ is getting thrown around on twitter by the big reporters more than I expected.
And I expected a LOT.
So well done to Smith’s agents for that PR push, they deserve a beer tonight.
Now, can we actually get the real numbers please?
I’m not an expert on contracts but I’m looking at what OTC has reported for Carr’s contract and I don’t understand why the reports are saying $100 million guaranteed. If I’m reading the details correctly the fully guaranteed amount is $60 million ($31.5 million in guaranteed salary and $28.5 million in signing bonus) with the extra $40 million coming if he’s not cut after 2024, which sure doesn’t seem like a guarantee to me.
If OTC is correct, if the Saints cut Carr after 2024 they’ll take a $17.1 million cap hit but also save over $28 million. To me this contract seems more like a 2 year contract that would probably be re-negotiated if Carr proves himself yet it’s being represented as a 4 year contract.
I think it could be much the same for Geno’s contract. Probably a low cap hit in 2023 so some free agents can be pursued with a much of the “calendar year” stuff coming in 2024. I’m anxious to see the details. I would be amazed if Geno’s contract doesn’t allow the Hawks to move on from Geno after 2024 by the latest.
https://overthecap.com/player/derek-carr/2975
I’d much rather they pick a QB in 2023 instead of kicking the can down the road and hoping for greener pastures in “the next QB class” (as people are wont to do), but I wonder if this means they have decided that it’s Richardson or bust.
If he drops to them at 5, it’s a perfect redshirt year – as you’ve described, Rob. If he’s off the board – and other QBs remain – maybe there’s a trade down with the Panthers to pick up #9 and their 2024 R1.
I will believe it when I see it at #5 now. Pete Carroll’s window is small. Logically anyways. So he wants a guy he trusts. I get that. I just think Geno with huge expectations is a whole lot different than last year. Ive seen this team makeway too many financial mistakes. Hope Im wrong.
You might be right about Carroll’s window thinking, but if these draft quartbacks are legit then it’s completely wrong. Did Cincinnati have a better shot winning a super bowl sticking with Andy Dalton or drafting a top prospect in Joe Burrow? That’s how I see this. Geno ain’t getting you a Super Bowl, probably ever, but one of these QB’s might.
Maybe it’s been mentioned above and my comments just haven’t refreshed quickly enough, but …
They could still trade up. But imagine the ball squeezing the teams above them could administer if they didn’t have a backup plan.
Geno gives the Seahawks maximum flexibility to move up at a price they like.
The more I think about it, the more I conclude this is the smartest move possible to get a QB of the future.
This gives them flexibility to move up, down, sideways, if they wish, without *any* counterparty leverage.
And the cost probably wont end up being that much.
Once the numbers come out, consider that against what a trade up might cost them with no Geno Smith contract. 3 firsts? 4 firsts? 5 firsts? If you know a team really wants a guy and they have no option, you can ask for whatever you want.
JS had to buy himself a strong negotatiating position and I’m betting that once we know the numbers, not only with that be considered cheap (or better said, a ‘value’, as millions are fantastical to me) for securing a QB of his caliber and enabling him to do what he likes in the draft.
Rob I wish I could tag you, but I’m betting this is where you land.
Sorry for all the replies to myself, I keep having additional thoughts after clicking ‘Submit.’
I am of the opinion and have explained above why I think this is the smartest possible approach to the QB position for the Seahawks.
Present to me a smarter strategy that costs fewer dollars and picks and also puts you in this strong of a position to take a QB of your choosing.
Hell, it even gives them leverage to trade for Hooker, if that’s how the draft ends up playing out.
Other teams can pull whatever shenanigans they want and the Seahawks are covered.
At least one team is going to pay big money in picks to get their desired QB.
The Seahawks will pay a reasonable price if the player they want is in a position they wish to draft him.
Going to put it in all caps for the folks in the back
THE GENO CONTRACT IS PART OF THE COST OF GETTING THE QB JS & PC WANT.
And my argument is that there’s no better way to have done it.
Well, it’s certainly less risky as far as the QB position goes in case you completely miss out in the draft for any reason. And your point about leverage in possibly trading up stands.
But as for there being no better way to have done it, I think a lot of us would have been happier just rolling with Lock or another cheap bridge QB so that we could make a couple significant FA additions. I would argue that two good FAs + Lock would have enabled us to win more games than just with Geno as we transition to a rookie QB deal.
Tough to say with all the negative evidence to the contrary that Lock would have been even a league average starting QB. We got league average play from Geno in ‘22, so we know what this team + an average QB looks like.
How much better at defense must you be to overcome a QB likely in the bottom 3rd of the league and possibly the very bottom of the league?
Indeed, I’d suggest the fact that JS/PC signed Geno tells us all we need to know about their belief in Lock getting anywhere close to the field.
Even if you get 2 HOF caliber defenders, it’s just 1991 all over again (yes, that’s a little hyperbolic), but you get my point.
The QB has such an outsize impact, with Lock running the show, they might have to hold teams to fewer points than whatever you think you can get from KWIII with an 8 man box.
Baker Mayfield, Jacoby Brisset, Sam Darnold,
Probably a few others I would have paid less money to. And yes, I believe that all of those QBs are on the same level talent wise as Geno.
I would take any one of them at a cheaper price.
We still need to get the details of Geno’s contract and maybe it’s not a bad deal after all.
I agree with you that the plan is good but there are /were better ways to do it without spending all the FA money.
You named three dudes who have not accomplished what Geno has accomplished. Baker had a similiar albeit worse season with a more talented offense. Brissett is a JAG. Darnold I think has the talent but has to be in the right situation
According to Pete Carroll, this offense is “QB friendly”. While I might not want any of Mayfield, Darnold or Brissett, it shouldn’t matter who the QB is, right? And Geno hasn’t accomplished anything more than those three listed.
My feeling on those guys or any other QB is probably similar to how JS and PC feel about it.
Maybe those guys could do well, maybe not. They’ve struggled elsewhere and they have to learn a new offense.
Meanwhile they know what they’ve got with Geno.
I think they believe—and I suspect this is where most of us disagree on this subject—that the marginal dollar to bring back Geno was good value relative to the salary cost and uncertainty with any other available QB.
When all the numbers come out and we see how salaries shake out, I suspect we’ll view the is at least neutrally and probably favorably.
By that I mean, we won’t look at other QBs and their contracts and wish we had them at those dollars.
But this is all probabilistic, right? I’m prob 70% confident Geno is better than other FA options, that’s not close to 100%, but if you think that, it’s probably worth paying for it in the NFL
Just my opinion of course
No no and no.
I wish people would stop assuming cheaper automatically = better.
Bye Bye Free Agency – it is now ALL on Geno and the draft. Can’t possibly trade up – we need the draft picks to actually fill holes on the lines, linebacker, center, 3rd receiver, and edge. It appears on the surface we just unzipped our fly and let everyone know our plan or it is a giant cover your ass for JS in case he was left standing when the QB chairs were filled. Have to see the contract details but I have a bad feeling about this right now but hoping it is a team friendly bridge for AR to learn and take over next year.
One scenario where we resign Lock and draft AR at #5. After 2 preseason games AR shows enough to win the battle we can trade Geno? Lock can be backup.
If you’re another team, would you trade for Geno right after he signs a big contact and lost his job to a rookie? I sure wouldn’t.
I would be under the impression that JS made a deal with them to ease the money vs. the cap as was said earlier…I think getting Richardson would be the best things they could do for a bright future.
From Jeff Simmons, who I am streaming with tomorrow:
But wouldn’t that mean that they’re tied to him for at least 2 years. I would be much more comfortable with a higher cap hit in ’23 and an easy out after year 1 than a lower cap hit in a year in which you’re likely not competing anyway.
Depends on the structure and the outs
They might even be willing to take on a reasonable dead cap hit if they traded him. The Chiefs got a R3 and a player for Alex Smith.
Rob, I admire your attempt to use logic when everyone is responding emotionally. I specifically used 3years/$105 million in my examples for a possible bridge contract to show how the guarantees affect the year one cap hit. This could be a really good deal for Seattle if the “UP TO $52 million in the first CALENDAR year” means the contract includes incentives (which it implies) and if the $52 million includes year 2 roster incentives (which seems possible).
The 3-year/$105 number was being reported a while back. I’m guessing Geno accepted the Seattle offer.
Not a big fan of the deal but if it is structured with an easy out after year 2 if might end up being the exact Smith / Mahomes type situation Rob has been talking all season.
Think this rules out they trade up but if Richardson , Levis or Stroud are there at 5 and they pull the trigger it might end up being an ideal situation.
I’m curious how the people claiming that we bid against ourselves know this? First we don’t have the details of the deal yet. Carr just got 150 million dollars for four years from the Saints. Jones could be getting 40 million per from the Giants. Lots of teams without QB’s how do you know that the Jets, Panthers or Raiders weren’t looking at Geno as options B after Rodgers? This allows the Seahawks to compete now while still developing a QB. I think this makes it more likely they draft a QB at #5 and as much as everyone loves Levis and Richardson they both probably need to sit and learn.
Carr will not see $150 million. If OTC’s numbers are correct, his guaranteed money is $60 million. The Saints can cut him after 2024, take a $17.1 million cap hit but save $28,6 million against the cap.
https://overthecap.com/player/derek-carr/2975
Well, all the message boards are going to be nightmare-ish for the next 6 months over this and whoever they draft. Should be fun!
This is the going rate for a solid starter. Below market value really. It does not take them out of the running to draft any of the big 3 QBs (or smaller 4th) at #5, and sets up a fantastic scenario if that’s how it goes. Bringing back Geno was going to cost this or similar. Signing another “starter” (Carr/Jimmy G. types) gonna be the same cost or more. Going cheap with Lock or someone else saves money but leaves you with Drew “I think we forget how not good he is” Lock and a rookie next season.
I’ll take Geno’s work ethic, leadership, and solid (if not spectacular) play + a rookie getting to redshirt over those other scenarios.
I’ll gladly take it. WITH a rookie. One of the Big 3. Otherwise mediocrity here with come.
As of now, this is nothing more than maintaining. There had to be a bigger multi-year plan than just this.
Step away for one hour and look what happens…
Schultz is saying “ability to earn up to $52m the first year” which is super fishy. That’s agent talk.
Sounds heavily incentivized.
All of the big reporters are dropping that $52m line — they’ve all got the memo
Carr’s cap hit is $7.2m apparently. Would work for Geno — it’d be the same as 2022
Rapsheet just said “gets $52m in first calendar year – not season – in the first calendar year.”
My 3y $96m projection from November, if you turned it into that same language, would be “$49m in the first calendar year”
You’re the man, cha 👏
I commented the same up above. You were dang close.
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/seahawks-agree-contract-with-geno-smith#comment-685180
Well done. You are one of the reasons I enjoy this blog cha!
You really nailed that call Cha.
Thanks everyone.
I’m not taking a victory lap until I hear what the “calendar year” money is. If it is a roster bonus, yeah.
If it’s one of those “won the Super Bowl while converting 40% of third downs without taking a sack” bonuses, that’s a whole different kettle of beans.
As many have said, the Schultz tweet is obviously straight from the agent making it look as inflated as possible. The wording is very carefully put together: “with the ability to earn $52M in the first calendar year”. That probably points to a significant roster bonus in year 2 and maybe some added incentives.
I’m trying to work out what that might look like. (as we wait either for details to emerge or for Cha to chime in…)
I’ll go with an even $30m signing bonus (Carr just got $28.5m). So, spread out, that’s +$10m on the cap each year.
2023: $5m base (gtd) + $10m prorated
2024: $12m base (gtd) + $10m prorated + $15m roster bonus
2025: $40m base + $10m prorated
So total guarantees would be $47m and in essence it would be a 2yrs/$62m deal.
Cap hits would be:
2023: $15m
2024: $37m
2025: $50m
(P.S. Don’t take this too seriously, I’m just trying to cope as we wait…)
That’s not a bad first stab at it Sea. I’ve been wondering about the bonus and base salary and cap hits for the first 2 years as well…with the third being a throw-away year. Wonder if he got a no-trade clause in the contract as well.
Thx. They could always shift a few million of the base salary if they want to lower the year 1 cap hit.
If they were to trade him after 1 year, they would save the $15m roster bonus but still incur a huge $32m dead cap hit in this structure.
That’s a great swing, Sea Mode.
The “Calendar Year” is the kicker though. If we work back from $52m we get Signing Bonus + 2023 Salary + 2024 Roster Bonus due before 365 days from now.
So your breakdown would be $60m in the first year.
I’d shave the 2023 salary down to $2m, and if we assume a $30m signing bonus that means a $20m roster bonus.
2023 cap: $12m
2024 cap: $30m + 2024 salary, say $10m = $40m
2025 cap: $53m
Things are starting to come into view. Both of you guys are treasures of this community.
Let’s hope Geno didn’t include a no-trade clause, giving John maximum flexibility.
And for the record, I DO understand that this is a balance between Pete and John on the compete-now (Pete) and compete-in-the-future (John). It might be a really good compromise to keep the kumbaya going at the top.
Oh, you’re right. Thanks. I forgot that the year 3 prorated signing bonus would of course be included in the $52m.
Understood the “agentspeak”, messed up the maths at 1:30am… 😁
But that’s even better for the Hawks. Lowers the year 1 cap hit and makes the savings a bit better if they do want to trade him after one year.
Nice work guys. My take is that, barring miracles, there is very little chance of Geno getting his hands on most of that $50+ million. The pro- rated signing bonus is his reward for a good season last year & the three years is the hawks way of keeping the cap hit low. I would hazard a guess that this offer has been on the table for a while & the Carr deal showed Geno & his team that it wasn’t likely to be bettered elsewhere, so they made the call to JS.
So the ‘hawks get to keep a serviceable QB on the roster & still have all the options on the table going forward.
I’m not thrilled. I do wonder with this move though….
If Seattle holds steady at #5, I’m guessing it is safe to assume Seattle will take whichever of the top four QB’s falls or Will Anderson at that pick? The other option that I wouldn’t necessarily advocate for (but wouldn’t be shocked to see and now wonder because Pete seems to be in win now mode with Geno) is for multiple trade-downs…and I don’t know if I necessarily hate that idea. What if Seattle traded down a few times and ended up with a first round pick around 12-15. Would gaining another 2-3 picks between 33-50 and maybe even a 1st rounder next year be that bad? Maybe you end up coming away with the best TE, LB, DT, (not counting Carter at this point) and C’s in this draft?
I think so
I think we should remain open-minded about Tyree Wilson and wait for his testing — but we’ve seen what older Big-12 defenders look like in R1 (Collier, Brooks)
Dunno bout u, but Wilson or Anderson just seem terribly underwhelming vs the 3 QBs. Talk about massively deflating and missed opportunity. That’s why this whole sitting at 5 and hoping for the best just doesn’t sit well with me.
Agreed
Right there with you. I can see this going very poorly for us. Geno regressing. QBs going 1-4. Taking Wilson at 5 and him busting(I’m really not a fan of his). I doubt it all goes wrong like that. But I’m not very optimistic. I really like this QB class and staying put hoping things work out ok isn’t the route I’d take. I also think they’re counting on great play from Geno and I wouldn’t make that bet. I think his turnovers increase. Got too lucky with defenders dropping easy ints last year.
I wonder how the hardcore pro Geno crowd is going to feel when his play declines and now we’re on the hook for his salary for 3 years and may or may not have a QB of the future.
100% if Pete does that it’s beyond stupid. It’s what he would do tho and I believe John would draft someone….Pete is still in charge.
Yay for another 9 win season and a first round exit. They played it safe for Pete’s last couple of years and his legacy. He doesn’t have time to see a rookie take a year or two.
Interesting Rapoport with a nice note at the end about how this doesn’t rule out Seattle drafting a QB at 5.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1632897585236025345
I read Carr’s contract has a $7.2 million Year 1 cap hit. He also has a larger per year avg than Geno.
I’m not saying Geno’s hit will be lower (my guess is $10-15 mill), but with inevitable cuts to Shelby Harris (possible restructure) and Gabe Jackson.
I still think the Hawks will be in the market for some of the 2nd/3rd wave FA’s they usually focus on.
They have a chance to re-sign Nwosu to save some cap space and could possibly restructure Tyler Lockets contract as well.
I’m not convinced they cut Quinton Jefferson after the way he finished the year – especially if Shelby Harris is unwilling to get a deal agreed.
So many internet folks without a day in the biz know more than JS. It’s amazing that dude has a job at all.
People are allowed to have an opinion without automatically thinking ‘they know more’. It’s an asinine appeal to authority that often gets trotted out to try and shut down debate when people disagree.
You know that, too. Clearly you either can’t cope with people not indulging in blind faith or you can’t be bothered to address the points you disagree with. Either way, you come out looking worse than they do for merely expressing a view on Geno Smith’s extension.
Fester tried to double down on this
Fester can go somewhere else and do this
👋👋👋👋
Thanks for sparing us, Rob.
It’s not a binary question. It’s not a choice between complete faith or blind faith. That’s too easy.
It’s whether people want to give a rebuttable presumption to experts who make a living doing this, or not. The key word here is “rebuttable.” And that means anybody should be free to weigh in to rebut any such presumption in any given case. And the more facts and logic are involved, the better for all of us in that rebuttal. As opposed to emoting on either side of the equation, often too early.
This is a bit ‘word salad’ Hawkdawg
I prefer just to say, people can be positive or negative about anything John Schneider does — and ‘he’s in the job and you’re not’ will never be an acceptable counter if we want to have a serious discussion
Well, we agree on that–there should be nothing “automatic” about any reaction to a GM’s move, either way, especially without complete facts.
Well there are people, whether we agree or disagree, who didn’t want to re-sign Geno Smith whatever the cost
They’re allowed to react based on it simply being a fact that he’s signed
There are countless times “internet folks” have made the correct call when a GM makes a move. By your reasoning, JS has never made a huge mistake that wasn’t immediately recognized (Jamal Adams and Creed Humphrey to name two recent ones). Internet folks aren’t always idiots and GMs aren’t always to be trusted unquestioningly.
On the signing I’m generally ambivalent.
Sorry though. There are tons and tons and tons of people holding jobs that aren’t there because they intrinsically know more than someone who isn’t holding that job.
Here’s at least one small consolation: Regardless of what we think about the Geno extension, if Daniel Jones and the Giants get a deal done before the deadline, it’s gonna blow Geno’s out of the water…
It might be a long shot but perhaps Smith follows his QB coach back East & the deal has already been agreed to that sends Smith and his now established contract away in exchange for a fairly decent pick in exchange, I say again, maybe? If so, the Seahawks sign lock for a bridge & have even more ammo to move up for their QBOTF, Again, a big maybe, but exciting to think about at the same time.
There is 0% chance of that
My first choice would be Richardson at 5. Second choice is Will Anderson and third choice would be to trade back for another DLineman.
Excited for Geno, and glad we won’t have a bad qb situation in 2023. It’s the safe move, I can’t foresee any bad outcomes for the number 5 pick.
Disappointed they didn’t let him test the market, it definitely limits the upside of the team in 2023 particularly if they double up on a QB at 5 (which they should if available).
Long term, cap space is fine. Kinda painful this year. Honestly I’d just as soon take a larger hit this year, and let the 2024 window for FA get wider, but external free agents just aren’t the way it seems. Why Pete and John like trading instead I don’t get.
This will go down as a mistake. You came out of the Wilson trade with a chance to do what every other team is doing for a SB run. Rookie WB contract. Geno is going to play
Like second half geno and if they pass on a Richardson for example and he becomes a star I’ll never forgive Pete….this also tells me Pete is still in charge.
Well, I’m off to bed without knowing the details. They sure are doing a great job of letting Geno’s camp have their moment of glory before deflating the balloon a bit with the details… 🙄
Well I for one had to swallow hard to keep from vomiting…
I just don’t think Geno is any good, and his second half last year proved it-
I think the problem in my head is that I think Pete actually believes we can compete with good teams. Now with geno, we will win just enough games again next year to not have a good pick, and we just spent the FA money, which forces us to draft for very specific needs.
The upcoming season is now locked into mediocrity, which could have been done for a lot less with Drew.
I just want to add that this move deflates the trade war for the top draft picks. Yes, there’s another (nearly) 2 months until the draft. Maybe the Panthers make a dramatic move up. But would Detroit? Vegas? Does Carolina now feel more confident that a QB will fall to them? Is there still a lot of love for Young (amongst other teams or by the Hawks)? There’s also 2 months for the narratives to change. This, along with other FA signings, reduces the pressure for the league as a whole.
I think as Rob does that the 3 QBs are the ones that are potentially eventual MVPs / Blue Chips players. But there is *a lot* of negative press about them all: Richardson, Levis, and Stroud. I bet one of them is available at #5.
You guys probably know more than I do, so let me ask you, are these numbers for a bridge QB?
They can be depending on the guarantees and incentives.
Ohh thanks !!!
Once we know the final details about the contract we can figure it out from there. But for me, it potentially does point to Geno being a bridge that allows Pete and the team to remain competitive for the next 1-2 years and also gives John the flexibility to get the players he wants for the long term.
Probably.
Likely the deal is really a 2-year deal with a easy out after year two. Expect to see a massive number assigned to year-3 with the expectation being he’ll never see that year.
If for some crazy reason you see big numbers across all three years with no easy outs, well then go grab a stiff drink.
I’d be very disappointed if you weren’t correct.
See discussion above. Our best guess right now is that, in reality, it is around a 2yr/$62m deal with about $42m guaranteed.
So it’s by no means a cheap bridge QB deal. It’s market value $31m/year, which is right around the tag number, but it does allow you to get out after just 2 years for around $10m dead cap (or after 1 year if you want to trade him with a hefty dead cap hit of around $30m).
Smith signing means next year is a playoff season, possibly grooming QB of future, after which a healthy QB battle allows Smith, who two years of experience and two years on a contract to be a valuable trade piece right when all the new rookies gel and the freed cap space allows for an over the top FA signing…possibly at DL…
Love this scenario
Sir Anthony Richardson is still a puppy at the position:
https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/03/06/nfl-combine-scouting-notes-tight-ends-darnell-washington
Incredible how new to it he really is. I still don’t think he gets to 5, but hoping. Genoooo + AR and then free from there to do as we wish (team wishes). Team would be in best position possible, by going that route. Even if Will Carter there I still think AR is worth it. Probably none of the 2 are, we will see.
As Adam Levitan from Establish The Run states:
https://twitter.com/adamlevitan/status/1632799005397893121?t=I3bLl7TUD6w2s8_JZUL3zg&s=08
You have to take a shot. I think it would not be a detriment to locker room and or culture. On the contrary, Geno can feel safe. He wants to get full bag ($105), but also will understand it’s a business. Already does.
I want Richardson at 5 as well.
I also think that he can help the team year 1, in ways that the other QBs in the draft wouldn’t.
He could absolutely be used as a redzone weapon similar to the way the Saints have used Taysom Hill in recent years
This would make the draft/cap expense spent on him more palatable.
There will still be D-Line options at 20 and 37, then we can look Center or LB with our native 2nd and 3rd round picks
Well… at least he’ll be able to pay for an Uber, now? 😵💫
Underrated comment this
This is the best take of the day!
💯
Ugh. What a disaster. They’ll just use this as an excuse to do nothing in free agency again. Passing on any of the four quarterbacks at #5 will just complete their failure. This is shaping up to be the worst off-season in franchise history.
Kendricks out in Minnesota, oh wait probably no money. SMH
If one of the QBs is available at 5 and they don’t pick him, I’m going to find it very difficult to stick with this team, and I’ve had season tickets for 25 years. It’s intentionally signing up for playoff contention with no realistic shot at a title. You have to take a swing at top-level QB upside when the chance is there.
New mock draft from Corbin Smith has quite a few guys that we have discussed on here.
5. Stroud QB
24. Smith Edge (traded back 4 picks and picked up extra day 2 pick).
38. Torrence G
53. Benton DT
84. Henley LB (extra pick from trade back to 24)
88. Avila C/G
154. Spears RB
157. Moss CB Iowa
178. Kuntz TE (extra pick from trade back to 24)
199. Ford-Wheaton WR WVU
238. Jones S Boise
Go Hawks!
Can’t see any way Stroud lasts to #5
I don’t see Nolan Smith in R1
Torrence is massively overrated and redundant after they re-signed Phil Haynes
Avila won’t last to #88 and doesn’t fit their center profile at all
Spears won’t last to #154 (no chance)
Doubt Ford-Wheaton lasts to #199
But I think Moss is good value
So other than that, you like his mock? 😅
😂
Not a fan of picks 2 and 3. The rest are fine, even if I’m not sure of the availability of some of those in those slots.
I suspect this was a Carroll thing. John gets to draft a QB but they have to resign Geno to compete now. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a heavier contract than expected based on the Haynes and Bellore deals.
Also, I’m a little disappointed because as far as I know I was the only one saying 6 games into the past season that Geno would sign with Tampa Bay. It’s on an ancient comment thread somewhere.
Well, let’s hope they get one of the big three QBs!
Seems like a fair compromise TBH
I know we think of Levi’s, Richardson and Stroud as the Big 3. Let’s not count Bryce Young out of the QB derby. He hasn’t thrown, yet. He still could be the best of the bunch.
Young’s biggest appeal is that he can be a good QB right now. We would be losing the advantage of the best that he offers in this scenario.
I am going to stay positive on this one because if the cap hit is around 7 million you kind of get the best of all worlds. Keep building with a stable veteran that has his teammates respect. You probably don’t need to sign Lock but you could for the vet minimum. You still are in line for QB. The only scenario that bothers me would be passing on one of the Big3.
I’d like to start a campaign to elect Rob as General Manager of the Seahawks. I like Schneider, but Rob is the man.
I’d settle for making coffee in the draft room
I’m good at that
I think this increases the chance of trading down. If the big 3 + Andersen are off the board, then they could trade down with a team like Washington who might be into Bryce Young. They could get a haul for trading down into the teens if they aren’t interested in Bryce Young. And now they could get a developmental QB later instead of Young.
Eventually you actually have to build a team with picks
Sometimes I think people forget that
They already got a haul for Russell Wilson
I get that but they need to believe in Young’s upside especially JS. You can only play the hand you are dealt. If JS isn’t interested in Young & the other 3 are taken, then they should probably try to get a haul instead of taking someone like Wilson. Pretty sure lots of teams will covet trading up for Young in that scenario.
Would make 0 sense to pay Geno for 2 years worth of starter production if they have any intention of picking B.Young. He doesnt need to sit that long. We’ll need to see the contract, but if Geno is ultimately going to get 40-50 million over 2 years or more, then Levis, Young, or Stroud would make this signing a major strategic blunder. Only QB that would still make sense is Richardson, since he might need that long.
I’m hoping this really works out to a 1 yr starter + 1 yr backup type of cap hit. Their recent history doesn’t make me very optimistic though.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a contract leaked where the guaranteed money wasn’t leaked along with it. This gives me hope that there is a large roster bonus in year two making it easy to cut him when the rookie QB looks great. Geno will take this betting that he can be so much better than the rookie they have to stick with him. If that’s the case, I don’t see much mentoring going on from Geno, though. He’d have a lot on the line to stay ahead of the young guy.
Farewell, Drew Lock. We hardly had the chance to know and potentially overpay you for a single “better than average” season. Never had a chance to be “one of our guys.”
Maybe I am alone in this, but I love this move and the timing. If JS waited too long, then Daniel Jones, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow would likely have inflated the QB market even further, similar to what happened with Frank Clark a few years back. I think Rob hit the nail on the head in suggesting this provides the flexibility and options to either sign one of the top 3/4 QBs in the draft, sign the best defensive player at #5 or trade down. I’m going to assume that JS knows exactly what he is doing and how to best structure this contract. I know many rail about the Seahawks under Geno “only” winning 9 games, but we could have realistically won 12 or 13 with better defensive play. Further, our offense has every reason be even better this year as the rookie tackles make the “sophomore leap”, the O-line jells with one more year of experience, KW3 is even better, we add a legitimate WR3, etc. Seattle was never (likely) to be a big spender in the first phase of free agency…it’s just not what they do. Maybe they will be better positioned to do so in a year or two. Looking forward to the contract details. Meanwhile, I like this signing, it makes sense.
Did Geno Smith actually have an active market to inflate the bidding though?
I think part of the issue some people have is the question as to whether they were bidding against themselves
I’m comfortable with the contract provided there’s a Carr-esque low cap hit ($7-8m) and an easy out for the team
The bidding against themselves possibility maybe even likelihood is what bugs me.
Your point about the pressure to play a drafted rookie too soon if the bridge were Lock rather than Smith is a really good point Rob.
It’s something that is quite important IMO
It’s not hard to imagine Drew Lock having a difficult start to 2023 and fans immediately chanting either Geno’s name or the rookie’s name
That could become quite toxic and the pressure to throw the rookie in too early will be intense
I don’t think the fans are going to turn on Geno like that and they’ll be more accepting of a ‘redshirt’ year for a rookie if Smith faces some early issues
Plus, Smith has had production in Seattle. So you arguably stand a greater chance of staving off any pressure to chuck in the rookie. This would allow you to fully commit to a redshirt season.
“Did Geno Smith actually have an active market to inflate the bidding though?”
Totally agree with the idea that Seattle could be bidding against themselves. It’s a valid concern and maybe we’ll never know…maybe Tampa Bay was sniffing.
On the surface, Geno’s deal appears to be in the same ballpark as Carr’s. To me that is re-affirming; Carr (IMO) is a QB of similar caliber as Geno, good but not elite. Both are solid, yet neither are without blemish. Either would make a good “bridge QB”, and with Geno we have continuity.
Like many on this blog, I am expecting (hoping) the contract details will support picking a QB at #5 as well as other moves.
Hate it. Hate Geno. We are probably picking Carter at 5 to finalize the all high character team.
I’m with you Matt. All the talk of wanting character guys and they sign a guy (twice) with what happened last off-season. I really wish the local guys would get through the backlog and charge the guy.
100% agree with you. Our local media completely ignores this also.
What will be very interesting is if they draft a guy at 5, them Geno gets charged and then suspended. Now the rookie starts while Geno is suspended? Could get very interesting.
He still might get suspended? How many games would it be?
His DUI was never resolved. The toxicology is so backed up that they predicted it wouldn’t be analyzed until this off-season. So, we shall see.
Just looked up some of the details, and it doesn’t sound like he was sober…..
Looks like we’ll be without Geno for some games sooner or later
Also where did you hear they predicted it wouldn’t be analyzed until this off-season?
I don’t think this changes one thing in Seattle. I think it is QB at pick #5. Geno is 33, it’s a relatively short contract, and it creates the perfect scenario for a rookie QB to come in, learn the system without pressure, and take over when ready…. just like Rogers, Mahomes, etc. It really creates an ideal situation for the Seahawks.
Well, it might change one thing, in that we will likely have less money to spend on free agents.
I was hoping we could sign a couple of good DL, and maybe a LB.
I guess we’ll see.
True. I wish they weren’t spending so much damn money on safeties.
This really would be a tailor made situation for Anthony Richardson. One problem though…. He will already be gone. Kind of doubt they will trade up but still pray they do.
Wow wasn’t expecting the comment section of this blog to overreact to this extent. Can we please wait until the numbers come out (and Cha’s expertise) before we all lose our minds?
People are allowed to react with disappointment to news
Provided it doesn’t overstep the mark I’m not worried about it
A lot of people wanted Seattle to sign a cheap bridge and draft a QB, some others simply didn’t want to pay any kind of big contract to Geno Smith
I have a different take but I don’t begrudge those who are disappointed expressing so
Totally, you’re right. I just expected more patience for the numbers to be released. Rob, do you sleep though??
I have barely slept since the combine and it’s messed with my body clock 🤦
I was going to have an early night then the Geno news broke
Rob, go to bed! What is it…2am for you! Tomorrow will be here soon enough and for you it already is.
Cawww, I see quite a bit of restraint from people on here. We’re waiting for the rest of the story to unfold….it takes time.
Man, nothing can kill excitement for the Seahawks… quite like the Seahawks can.
Aside from Lockett, when have the seahawks under paid for a free agent? Minimum 2-year deal, and overpaying Geno has PC written all over this. I just hope he is not picking this year’s draft.
I agree with this deal. It does a number of things you mentioned. It gives us that hidden leverage during the draft. If they trade back to compile picks, great, if they take Richardson or Stroud, great. I also like the possibility of having some team foaming at the mouth if the draft falls to a QB they desire and we get some clumsy GM throwing draft capital at us and we grab Hendon Hooker or Jaren Hall in the 3rd or so while acquiring some much needed talent in our front 7. Perhaps we take Stroud at 5 and he develops nicely and Geno has another nice year and now is more of a trade piece in year two of this deal with Stroud ready? We have some comfort combined with flexibility moving forward the next 12 months.
🎯
While there was initial shock when I got the little notification on my phone, I know the devils in the details. When I saw $52M in the first year, I was so completely weirded out. I’m not telling anybody how they’re supposed to react, but emotions will typically lead and then a reassessment needs to be done.
I really appreciated you updating the article Rob, because I agree with you 100%. I don’t think this changes the game plan of a QB at 5. Depending on the $, I think we may not be able to
After the playoff loss to the 9ers, both Pete and John made a lot of noise about getting better along the d-line. I question how much of that can be accomplished in FA now. Again hoping for a peacock post June 1 cut to help
Yeah… I can’t help but think that it would benefit us more to use the Geno money on defensive signings.
It was probably wishful thinking that they were ever going to spend big in outside FA anyway, tho.
Didn’t expect to wake up to this and I would have chosen a different path, but I kind of get why they did. There’s a good chance Geno will have to start next year and if he keeps playing like he did last year, we aren’t overpaying him. Of course there’s a lot to figure out about the contract details.
My impression is this changes nothing in terms of draft. We might very well get a QB, even at 5, not impossible for us to trade up, not impossible to just stay there and have the draft coming to us. I also highly doubt we will use every high pick on the D.
Off topic, but regarding Nolan Smith, how does he compare to Micah Parsons? He is only an inch shorter, 7 pounds lighter, but has longer arms. Is that 1 inch such a difference?
I wouldn’t mind just getting the freakiest athletes and character guys.
AR
Ade Ade
Nolan Smith
One the TEs
BFW
I’m going to assume for a minute this deal is mutually friendly- Geno gets a fat signing g bonus guaranteed and low salary with heavy incentives that 1) makes a low year 1 cap hit, 2) makes a tradable asset w/hawks picking up dead cap, 3) pays him rightly if he decides to crush it.
I love what this does to the draft board.
Yesterday, I felt like a trade up was inevitable and I was saying goodbye to Ade Ade. All that changes. Chicago and Arizona can’t be sure of Seattle going QB and risk losing out on their defender if they trade back. By not trading back behind Seattle’s pick, they push QBs down the board. Or they trade back anyhow and all 4 QBs go 1-4 and Hawks now can go top defender or trade back as well.
Without Geno, early QB pick felt like a must and we’d need to trade up to do it. With Geno on a reasonable deal, all options remain open and puts other teams back in the guessing game.
I don’t think this stops the Bears and Cards. Their rosters are so bad that they’re going to probably take their picks.
I’m worried that a very big decision at the most important position will be a gaping hole in just a few years. But I have resigned my mind to what they need to do in the draft already and still feel that they have to trade up.
This is part of what is the best to me, but I’m still much more nervous now than I was earlier today. We’ll find out how much Pete and John have changed in about 8 weeks.
This seems very reasonable. Doesn’t restrict the Hawks from going QB at 5 if they identify their potential franchise QB; but also doesn’t force their hand towards drafting a QB that they aren’t in love with.
Look at Atlanta and Carolina- still searching for a QB after throwing away valuable 3rd rounders last year on Ridder and Willis.
But look at Washington too- let a good not great QB walk, and haven’t played watchable football since. Just a miserable existence for their fans having to watch whatever they trot out at QB weekly/annually.
Looking back at the day Russ was traded, if you’d have told me that they’d be resigning Geno Smith coming off the Pro Bowl/playoffs and in the mix for a top QB prospect or Will Anderson I’d think that’d be a dream scenario.
Seattle patiently wait 5 and they get rewarded with Anthony Richardson. He a freaky monster and everybody already know who he is so I talk about him for now. I want talk about pick 20. The commercial mocks always have Seattle taking a WR or a CB. I had Drew Sander because after him there’s quite drop in talent after him. I think Seattle desperately needs an inside LB. Now after the combine I realize taking him at 20 is reaching. This Seattle 1st round pick and never drafted a WR or a CB in the first round under JS/PC. Watching this combine my pick 20 appear as a light I saw outta the corner of eye. Darnell Washington made himself a 1st round pick with performance. I had playing around with TE instead of a WR. There more to this freaky monster than his combine stats. He’s 21 years old with 2 national championships. He did everything his asked him to do and as a junior it’s time for him to move on. We need to take advantage of a really talented TE class. I know we tight and I would yes or no. We actually have a spot open Fant is not under contract and the other 2 both have 1 year left. Fant actually had a down with 50 catch’s for 496yds and Washington had 28 for 454yds. Can you imagine Richardson and Washington building a passing connection or the two them coming around corner on QB sweep. Imagining those coming at you is scary. I’m sure that Shawn Waldron have no problem with guy at all. Something to think about.
Fant is under contract for next season. We exercised a team option to that end.
Cha on the positives of signing Geno to a 3 year 96 m contract (it was a guestimate):
“They also now have the option of letting the draft come to them if they like. Instead of desperately paying a king’s ransom for the #1 or #2 pick to fill their quarterback-shaped roster hole, they can either let a premium quarterback fall to them or ignore quarterbacks completely and take the most dynamic player on their board and stock their roster for years to come.”
Nailed it.
Wilson. I agree. The Seahawks had no reason to do this now. They were only bidding against themselves
This is Pete Carroll worried about his coaching career.
Seahawks and bidding against themselves for mediocre players. Name a more iconic duo lol.
This is just a smart move. Provides JS the flexibility he needs at the 5th pick. He can still stick at 5 and potentially draft Levis, Richardson, or Stroud. He can grab a DE. If Young falls he could grab a boatload of picks from a team wanting to move up. Or he could still move up to grab his guy if the price is right. Having the QB1 in place takes all the pressure off.
If Geno can elevate his game another level this year, $35 mil a year is a bargain. Don’t give me any talk about how this is impacting the salary cap. There’s still a chance we get a stud DL in FA. The cap can be worked around. I question though why a DL would want to come here with the abysmal performances we’ve had.
Not everyone shares the same view points as on here.
And I think abysmally is a bit harsh, unless you are relating to the draft and FA periods of recent years.
While I don’t think Seattle is a top FA destination, I think after last season there is a bit more of a buzz about the place – the superb draft, making the playoffs.
It’s.not the dour organisation is was recently.
I echo the need to wait until the terms come out before making judgement.
So, in my premature judgement this is a P R contract. Geno gets the cachet of having his name attached to a huge contract number, the team has control, the immediate cap hit is small, and the guaranteed money is minimal.
My hope would be that most of the “$52m” is for achieving certain goals. If he takes us to the Super Bowl, or wins MVP, or something, then we got the money’s worth. It could be that his cap hit will be under $10m this year, and his yearly salary will work out to be in the mid $20 million range.
Call me The Dreamer.
Yeah, that would be great but I just don’t see Geno’s agents going for that much in such unlikely incentives. I think the APY will be just over $30m, close to the QB tag amount. They must have felt it out at the Combine and let the Seahawks know that the Bucs would be willing to offer something similar.
Still amazes me details haven’t come out yet. Maybe that is a sign it really will be significantly lower than it looks. (Again, I’m guessing it’s effectively around 2yrs/$62m with $42m guaranteed)
I wonder if JS negotiated a post June 1 cut for Adams to retain Geno and get a DL.
Were they already supposed to designate that with his money being guaranteed a couple of weeks ago?
If we went into free agency without any QB signed, what free agent would want to come to Southeast Alaska without being massively overpaid?
Say what you will, but Seattle just got a lot more attractive as a destination.
Not really. It signed one of its own effectively. Its not like they lured a superstar from the East Coast.
But I do think there is something about being so far out west and attracting players at the moment.
Simple solution = win a Championship.
And what money are we going to use to sign all these fantastic free agents with?
Mediocrity, here we stay.
To pay the #1 degrade to journeyman prospect $105m is just a stupid move. It’s the Adams deal, all over the place. We’re on the hook.
Pete and John returning to form. Next, add a couple years to Uncle Will’s contract. Long wait for an ownership change.
Geno did good last season (come back player of the year)(no2 on free agents list NFL) – this is the right move to keep the re-build on track. Without him way to many bad variables possible.
This leaves #5 as safe as possible and allows JS to trade up or wait and stay at #5 without a panic knee jerk decision.
I would suggest Plan A, part 1 of JS/PC draft plan completed
Keep it rolling
How did Geno win “comeback” POY? Don’t you need to have done something prior?
I hate this.
This 99% means we won’t be trading up. And I’m fairly certain at least 3 QBs will go before #5.
If that 3 QBs are Richardson, Levis, Stroud or contains Young and we’ll have the opportunity to draft one of the top3, we’ll see. But the way Murray and Russ crumbled the past season, not sure a ton of teams have Young higher than the other 3.
My best bet now is they’ll draft Young or even more likely trade back with a QB needy team which wants Young. Draft some defender and look deflated in the press conf because they missed on their guy.
My only hope is either Levis or Richardson will be available #5
What makes you so certain of that? Imo nothing has changed. This is bridge deal. We still need a QB, and we’re now extremely unlikely to be a draft position next year to get one. If anything, I feel like this increases the urgency to find an heir apparent.
Right. You’re now cool with this. After having thrown up on the idea of a $30m+ contract on so many previous posts. Jan 23 for example. Why don’t you stay consistent and repeat all the problems Seattle now has, which you so eloquently laid out in your Jan 23 post: that Geno should be signed as a bridge quarterback, but not at a Kirk Cousins-level $35m/yr?
Of course none of us yet know how that $52m Yr1 number is structured or how likely it is he’ll actually get that. But you didn’t take a crack at that, ever. You never explored how to write a 3/$100m deal for Geno. Just kept insisting it would be a mistake.
To refrain the headline on that Jan 23 post, that it’s ok to debate the Geno Smith extension: yes it is ok. Just admit what your side of the debate was: that you think $35m/yr is a mistake, as you’ve argued so many times. Specifically, Seattle will not get to the Super Bowl with Geno Smith and $30m+/yr is not a bridge contract. Admit it. You may be right…
except that as it is now, it’s ludicrous to say that the deal is 35 mil per year. You can make 2 billion per year contract, if 0 is guaranteed out of the 2 billion, than it’s 0 dollars.
What are you on about?
So you’re saying Rob needs to decide there’s only one possible way forward, stick his head in the sand, and just start “shouting” at anyone online who dares to disagree with him? What a great way to encourage healthy discussion… If taking sides and resorting to personal attacks when you have no real arguments to support your opinion is your thing, a little (blue) birdie told me there’s a platform for that.
I much prefer the open-mindedness he shows to explore several different options for the Seahawks regardless of his own personal preference about which one is the best way forward. And he’s been doing that consistently not just this off-season, but for years.
(My bad, Rokas. The above is a reply to zezinhom’s comment)
Seattle still has all the same problems, Rob has always stated he’s cool with resigning Geno and he’s cool with this number if the first year is the Carr type first year cap hit which is about 7.2m. I’m assuming he will NOT be cool, as none of us would be, if it really was 35+ cap hit a year. I’m still waiting for details on numbers’s.
For me personally, I was pretty disappointed with the initial details. I worry this will back fire on us. Best bet is it turns into a Mahomes, Smith kind of thing. That’s my only hope now. Other than that hard for me to get behind this. UGH, wish I was on the POD today cause so many thoughts on this situation.
You already have the green screen. Just green screen yourself saying God job guys, keep it up and just make today’s WOD as near a murph as you can. That should buy you time to do the pod.
Dear zezinhom400,
I’ve said many times the ideal situation, in my opinion, is to create an Alex Smith/Patrick Mahomes style torch passing
So with respect, I reserve the right to wait and see what the true details of this contract are. And if, as I expect, there’ll be a low year-one cap hit and an out for the team, I will have no problem with the deal.
If they’re locked in to a large salary for three-years with no out, I’ll take a very different view. But I doubt that is the case and if it was, the agents wouldn’t be pushing the spurious ‘$52m in year one!’ line.
This will be consistent with my approach to this throughout.
Just following up on my prior comment: I just read Mike Salk’s post on the Geno signing. Salk is who you quoted in your Jan 23 post as to the risks of a $30m+ contract for Geno. In a very nice and respectful thoughtful way, Salk reiterated the same concerns he had said before, didn’t flip flop.
I haven’t flip-flopped
I’m sure there are many valid ways you can have a go at me but not sure this is one of them
I just don’t get how this deal could work. Not a cap expert, but it seems to me, that:
1, if it’s 105m with incentives and like 80m base that likely has at least 30-35-40m gtd.
If first year cap hit is low like 10m, it can be fully gtd but that still leaves at least! 20m gtd.
If 2nd year is like 30m, 20m gtd then the last year is basically a void one, but a rookie could only start in his 3rd year which is a bit far away.
2, if 1st year is higher like 25m fully gtd then 2nd can be 25m or something with 5-10 gtd and they could eat that dead cap to start a rookie without much consequences. But! That would destroy any potential FA options for this year.
My guess is moderate 1st year (13-17m) fully gtd and will restructure/trade/cut other players. They’ll be willing to eat 15-20m dead cap if necessary split in 2 years if the rookie is ready to start but they hope to trade Geno in year 2 and get back some picks.
A lot of people doing the same as usual when a new deal is signed – not waiting to see what the actual figures are before condemning the organisation to decades of mediocrity.
If as projected by many its a low cap hit Y1 and cheap get out in Y2 then that’s great – let’s get tjat QB we want on the draft and move forward.
If it isn’t and it’s financially draining in Y1 then I’d be all aboard the ‘have the FO not learnt anything’ train.
My thoughts are that Geno knows how it’s going to pan out – incoming QB (he’d be a great mentor aswell), if he wants to stay and earn then he has to play lights out. He’s in a great position here in Seattle.
Some people didn’t want to sign Geno at all Alex
They wanted every dollar invested in Geno to be spent elsewhere
They are allowed to feel that way
I was definitely one of those people as I don’t see the point of spending big $ on a bridge QB. It seems counterintuitive to the goal of winning a Super Bowl to pay for mediocrity when you could be spending that $ on potentially long term building blocks.
As long as they have an easy out after year #1 and draft one Richardson, Stroud or Levis then I won’t complain but if they pass on this AB class with a top 5 pick I will be pissed and question the entire plan PC/JS have.
Absolutely they are 💯%
I have a question about the “Draft defense = win superbowl” conversation i see all the time on twitter:
Does drafting only Defense with the first like 5 picks make this team into a contender? I keep seeing something along the lines of “Carter and an Edge” wins the Superbowl, but has there ever been any sort of evidence for this? A single draftee making a team go from 8-9 to 14-3 and championship winners? Bosa is good, but that whole defense is good. Myles Garrett is good but I don´t see any rings there in the near future.
I didn´t watch every snap this last season, but no way adding Jalen Carter/Will anderson and/or someother linemen gives us 5 more wins.
People that think rookie dlineman are going to come in and dominate the league aren’t being honest with themselves. There seems to be this idea that if you take a dlineman early he’ll automatically be a Bosa or Donald. Reality…. If they play well and Pete trusts them they’ll be used in a rotation like Mafe
Curious why Carr’s contract details came out almost immediately but still no word about Geno’s?
they need to be able to afford to add at least a stud difference maker on the DL in FA or trade to go along with the draft picks. It’d be unfortunate having to rely on a bunch of rookies to improve the front 7
Probably because perception ($52m! In year one!) is far better than reality
Similar to when his deal was announced last year then we found out a large portion of the salary was incentive based.
Geno Smith could have been great. He just wasn’t very good.
My question is for Cha, Sea Mode and Rob,
I know we don’t know the full structure of it yet but does it appear at this point that it will be a movable contract next year? Similar to the Alex Smith situation?
I think that’s a consolation of this deal is it being structured to hopefully be a low year 1 cap hit, and then easily tradeable next year, which Rob has mentioned, could always be a part of the plan.
Does this leave the opportunity for the QBOTF to win the job this year as well? Always compete.
I’m pretty sure if they draft a QB they will leave that door open — just as they did with Matt Flynn
Could you see any issues with that not being the case? AR is extremely raw for example? Even then he would be able to get in games with plays designed for his skillset (runs).
They were willing to roll with a 3rd round rookie before, you’d figure they would be open for a top 5 pick to start in year 1 as well.
Others have stated this already, but just to reiterate, this signing makes it extremely unlikely the seahawks will trade up. If one of the three QB’s (I think Richardson would be their top choice) is available at 5 I think it is likely they take them. If they are all gone, no worries. This puts them in a very good position.
Why wouldn’t it? He’s still a journeyman quarterback. I don’t see the team hitting their stride until about the time this deal runs out. Then we’re back to square one. I think it changes absolutely nothing.
I don’t know if this signing changes anything one way or the other.
Re: quarterbacks.
“If they are all gone, no worries.”
No, actual worries. In 2020 debates started about whether Wilson was actually good or if he was beginning to trail off. At the time he was younger than Smith is and legitimately blew the doors off Smith’s production.
To the draft. If Seattle doesn’t have a qb come to them at five or they don’t move up for one….in each of the following years it beomes increasingly more expensive to get one via the draft.
I sincerely hope as a selfish draft fan a qb like Richardson or Stroud is there at five. So there’s no need to spend draft picks.
Moving forward with Geno makes a good deal of sense in this current moment.
The real deal problem with Geno is what the future is. Or rather his future. Is he the qb that bucks the trend as somehow he has a higher ceiling we haven’t seen? Or is he every other qb in their early 30’s that gets found out. Was his first half success real or was it that teams had zero tape on him and curiously as the league had tape on him he started to trend back to a pedestrian 2:1 td/int ratio and frankly making more boneheaded mistakes…see the playoffs.
I see this as a Smith to Mahomes situation as Rob has been saying. This allows us the team to be able to sit Richardson or any of the 4 Qb’s they like for a year while also serving as a hedge in the case that the first 4 picks are QB and Seattle has to pivot to a different position. If it is Richardson then we all know he needed to sit for a year anyways, this doesn’t change that. I don’t think the numbers will be as bad as they look on paper, this seemed like the inevitable course of action and I don’t think this should change much.
Some details starting to emerge:
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/1633118752563765250
zezinhom400? Where you at bro?
Crickets
Seems pretty fair to me.
Also from Mike Garafolo:
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/1633119742742413312
Thanks for the most current info Rob. I’m thinking now that the cap will be maxed for two more years until Smith, Adams and Diggs cap hits disappear. In two years they may have a decent amount of money to start hiring veterans.
If I had a nickel for every time PC has said ‘connected’ the last two years…
Thanks for the update, Rob.
That should talk some people away from the ledge.
I have indeed backed away hahaha. Still a little hesitant, but its too easy an out at the end to not still shore up the qb position with pick 5 (or 4, or 3, or 2, or 1). To me it’s more of a contract thanking him for salvaging last year and one more year to start. Position isn’t set yet.
I’m glad that Garafolo and Rapaport both still mentioned taking a quarterback. Rapaport said it in his first breath on “Good Morning Football.”
Still hard to get the cap hits per year from this but it does shed some light on it.
The $40 million guaranteed likely means Geno and the Seahawks are married for 2023 for sure, but trading him in 2024 would appear to not cripple their cap much. Cutting him in 2024 would. So #5 is absolutely still in play.
Geno bends – that is well below-market and reflects his status as a one-year wonder and his age.
Seahawks bend – $30 million in incentives is way out of norm for a team that treats the cap like they keep their life savings in a shoebox under the bed. It establishes an unprecedented ‘pay for performance’ level for the Seahawks.
I can dig this deal.
So, maybe $25m signing bonus and 3m in year one base salary? Year two could be a guaranteed $12m base to make up the $40m guaranteed on signing. Then a bloated $35m third year that’s not guaranteed and he will never see. All that plus incentives.
Yep, that sounds pretty close.
I’ll make it a 24m signing bonus to make the math a little easier…
Y1: 4m salary (gtd) plus 8m proration = 12m cap (plus 4m unlikely incentives?)
Y2: 12m salary (gtd) plus 8m proration = 20m cap (plus 8m unlikely incentives?)
Y3: 35m salary (ungtd) plus 8m proration = 43m cap (plus 18m unlikely incentives?)
That matches all the reported numbers (40m gtd, 28m year 1, 52m “max calendar year” [assumes some of year 2 converts to bonuses], 3/75 – 3/105 max), and we’ll likely see some kind of structure like this.
Pretty clear he’ll never see Y3 if that’s the case. Only costs 8m to cut him after Y2; would be 28m after Y1 but you could post-June 1 it and get out if necessary without too much pain.
This is basically what I’ve been expecting.
Sounds like a deal I can totally live with. It also doesn’t fully prevent us from benching Geno if we draft a QB and he wins the battle, we’re not full resources in his deal.
I just had a different thought. We have been worrying about other teams moving up for the big 3-4 Quarterbacks. If one of those teams had signed Geno Smith then that team would have been less likely to move up. Seahawks signing Geno Smith actually increases the likely hood that other teams will move above us for a quarterback. Yikes!
Raiders, Falcons or Panthers were not signing Geno.
This is the rub right here.
Genos contract is very palatable. But…if teams were definitely not signing Geno (or Haynes, or maybe dissly for that cash) why does Seattle always seem to pay based on their own wage scale.
I’m not directing this at you Peter, but I don’t understand how folks seem to ignore the fact that a vet playing on a team for a long time might be worth more to that team than he would be to some other team, as well as being worth more to his team than some unnamed alternative would be.
I’m also discouraged by the lack of humanity in some of the comments about Seattle’s contracts this offseason, particularly about Nick Bellore’s contract. Some of y’all were foaming at the mouth because Bellore wanted to stay in Seattle, meaning Seattle had him over a barrell and should’ve stuck it to him when they had the chance.
Really? That’s how some of you want the FO to be? Not me. Not for a quality teammate like Bellore. And again I’m not happy about his cap hit, I just understand it.
The FO haven’t made a mistake in two offseasons now and yet it feels like every time we’re on the precipice of some new move, some of y’all are nothing but doom and gloom. Go back and read your own comments if you don’t think so.
This contract rewards Geno for his hard work, it gives the team its best chance to succeed in 2023, and it protects them beyond.
Sorry chicken littles, the sky ain’t falling
You’re not wrong on some of this.
On bellore I could care less either way.
On Haynes? I’m not sure I would give a guy who has yet never been a starter, starter money. On Dissly? Again I’m not sure paying him for leadership reasons is enough.
Other teams do some of this pay for leadership stuff. And on the other hand “the empire,” of football, the Patriots were famed for about 15 years of true success for letting go of very good players at the right time.
I wouldn’t care as much because it’s a million here, two there, and it’s not my money if while they were signing team leaders ( which I am not against mind you) they also were fixing some if the chronic problems that have persisted starting in 2018. Namely that the defense has goes from great, to good, to average, to an absolute liability.
Part of team success is a combo of great drafting but also what free agents you aquire at the right time.
Like I said I wasn’t directing this at you. I don’t recall you being that upset about Bellore.
Wrt Haynes, I’ve already argued that he played a majority of offensive snaps last season. While I’m not a pff guy, his pff is better than Jackson’s. And his contract, which is dead bang average for an NFL OG, saves Seattle $1.5m over the guy he replaced. Oh, and they don’t have to depend on the draft to fill that spot.
How is this a problem? And even if it’s not a “problem” how is the alternative better, especially when nobody’s really put forth one?
I’m with you on Dissly. I think his contract was a pretty significant overpay. But in retrospect, can you say it was detrimental to the team? I can’t.
I’m going to stand up to what I have also said, namely that we overpaid for Bellore and Haynes. I don’t want them gone and I wish we could make every single Seahawk the best paid player in NFL at his position. But we all know how the cap game works, and if you get sentimental with Bellore, Geno Smith, Dissly, Luke Willson and others because they are nice guys and great teammates, you will have a great atmosphere and a team who wins nothing. I wouldn’t go to the other extreme and get here a guy like Antonio Brown just because we can win trophies with him. We could have kept Bellore and Haynes on lower deals and have enough money to improve the roster. I do hope Geno gets us at least to the conference championship game, but my mind is telling me that’s not going to happen. Call me chicken…
I appreciate you standing up and engaging with me on this. I don’t disagree with the business vs. sentimental point you raise.
Wrt to getting to at least the conference championship, understanding that Geno’s contract is essentially a 1-2 year deal (which would be confirmed if/when they draft a QB with their first pick this year), can you name a different QB who would give Seattle a better chance of reaching the conference championship next year? And how much would that person cost?
You don’t get there with just one player. I believe we have a better chance of getting there next year with a QB that we pay less and with the the resources invested elsewhere. I do understand the rationale for extending Geno and I don’t hate the decision. The reactions of his teammates speaks tones. I would have preferred a different path. Geno isn’t as much of a problem for me as it was giving so much money to Bellore. Probably also because I would have given a vet minimum one year contract to KJ Wright, if we are to make decisions on keeping our guys in town.
Strike the Haynes part. His contract is almost the literal definition of draft hedge.
Probably with dissly it didn’t effect the team. But at some point if you spend a little extra here a little extra there you cat afford even nwossu level contracts. That concerns me.
People always think LOB but Bennett and Avril were those nwossu level deals at the time. And that’s a good example of that blend of draft acumen and having a little focus on free agency.
On Jackson….I honestly don’t even know what they were thinking there. That was a total what is the point,” style move all around.
Thinking more about this, why would a team above Seattle (Indy, Houston) take Richardson over CJ or Levis and have him sit for a year. Teams usually like the safe option at the top of the draft and the latter two do have sufficient upside. Similarly, why would a team like Carolina trade the farm & take Richardson over Young, Levis or CJ all three who could start immediately?
Richardson has the most appeal to a team that already has their Alex Smith & that also doesn’t need to sell the farm for an unknown (high upside) project. Aka Seahawks should be the first team for whom drafting him would make sense.
Per Mike Garafolo, Geno’s new deal is essentially $25 million per season with $40 million in first year fully guaranteed and $30 million in incentives… l’m good with that and think this doesn’t take us out of drafting a QB at 5.
Speaking of the big 3 QBs, how come not many people are talking about Levis after combine? It’s all Richardson and Stroud. As was stated earlier, I think Levis is the one that falls to 5 if one does.
And sorry, it wasn’t Mike Garafolo, it was Kevin Patra that reported the terms of the deal.
Rob. I am absolutely blown away by your prescience in regards to Geno Smith as Alex Smith paradigm.
Of course we don’t know if Seattle will do anything about qb in the draft.
But just looking at Over the cap, Geno is currently going to be the 13th highest paid qb and this is before Lamar Jackson and Daniel Jones get new contracts.
In 2017 Alex Smith was damn near that ranking in terms of real dollars owed when the Chiefs traded up for Mahomes.
Excellent work sir for bringing this concept up well before anyone.
As long as the Hawks follow through and draft a QB he absolutely nailed it from day 1.
1. I totally agree it’s a boatload of cash because I think you and I are aligned that at some point like the old rookie wage scale teams are going to pull back and there will be a sort of journeymen market for qb…but alas there is not one currently.
2. If they go all “let’s ride,” on geno and walk out of this draft with like stetson Bennett in the fifth round…I’m probably going to melt down. Not gonna lie.
If Richardson, Stroud or Levis are there at 5 I really think they pull the trigger. If they don’t you won’t be the only one melting down 🙂
My position exactly
Yeah, the confluence of us having the #5 pick in a QB rich draft is just too rare of an opportunity to pass up for me too. Will be very bummed if don’t pull the trigger.
Rob as the details on the contract for Geno Smith emerge this is looking more and more like the most likely and ideal situation that you have been talking about all offseason. Just like the Chiefs did with Alex Smith sign a competent veteran and then draft the high upside developmental QB in Mahomes to sit a year or two and learn till he is ready then move on from the veteran via trade ideally.
They are set up perfectly now to get there QB of the future without the worry of him having to start year 1 and the team can still be competitive while the young QB and rookies develop.
Get your QB and some more quality pieces via the draft this year and then next year most of the dead cap $ and bad contracts like Diggs and Adams can be off the books. Target the free agents you need them to round out the roster.
Just had a thought, I HIGHLY doubt John would do this, but part of paying Geno could be to help stomach having Diggs and Adam’s contracts for one more year. If you start Lock or a rookie, those two bloated contracts look very restrictive compared to the rest of the roster. Geno’s contract hides them for another year.
As this appears to be accurate, $15M in 2023 doesn’t look horrible. I personally would rather had that $ going towards Javon Hargrave. 🤷🏻♂️
https://bleacherreport.com/user_post/32ef0f3b-b513-4e45-9dda-fa882cb65ba4
The Spotrac tweet referenced was from March 4, before he even signed the deal. It’s a hypothetical but is somewhat close to how it’s looking now.
I found a couple comments from Holmgren’a appearance on KJR interesting:
– It’s better to have a rookie QB learn while playing instead of sitting as long as the line can protect him
– Russ wanted them to draft “the kid from Georgia” – presumably Kris Durham
– There’s no place for a player to voice their opinion on who the team drafts
Also, Gregg Bell suggests that the Hawks trade down to 9 and consider drafting Richardson (who of course would be long gone by then).
Love holmgren. Total legend for Seattle and in his own right.
But give me a break. There’s no place for a player to voice an opinion about who gets drafted? That’s ridiculous.
He’s a HOF coach and was not much of a GM.
Except that he is not a HOF coach for some strange reason. The HOF keeps passing him over and it makes no sense.
you actually think players should have a say on who to draft?
Yeah. I do.
How is a scout any better at acouting players than a player?
Most scouts were players at one time whose careers fizzled or never started.
I mean look at our team. John has a good eye for qb but never played the position. Pete can’t find a center to save his life or decent dine though he’s been doing it forever.
Diggs is out on social media cheering for Bobby’s return.
Why do I care if a player likes a college players game?
We should have all the details on Geno’s contract today, but the early leaks are very encouraging. The guarantees appear to be modest and the salary includes a fair amount of incentives.
That should mean the Year 1 cap hit will allow Seattle to keep any of their own free agents that they want to keep. It also means that Seattle should be able to trade the contract without a lot of dead money if Seattle drafts a rookie QB – the type of bridge contract we were hoping for.
In fact, if Geno has a great season in 2023, this deal could look very nice to any teams interested in trading for Geno.
This was my hope all along Steve. Sign Geno to a team friendly bridge contract, draft the QB of the future this year, and hopefully trade Geno in 2024, 2025 at the latest. As you mentioned, it could be a good situation if Geno continues to play well.
Now let’s start fixing the defense!!
Florio chimes in …
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/07/geno-smiths-base-deal-is-three-years-75-million/
It’s really starting to sound a lot like what most of the blog was projecting. $25M/yr with incentives and an out for year 3, Geno gets his money and no franchise tag. Once they start restructuring contracts (Fant, Shelby) and releasing some players (Gibbs, not Shelby) to save cap, we should be back in the FA game for some much needed DL help.
Totally reasonable deal for the Hawks, and exactly the kind of deal you make if you are still looking to draft your next QB. I’m good with it.
Thanks Tom.
He hints the contract has offsets. That could be really big in 2024 if they have a sophomore QB ready to take the baton.
I really, really hope we get to know the incentives. If I recall we got nothing on the incentives last year until like December.
Hopefully Florio gets his hands on his contract, which I’m sure he will, and then break it down for us. $30M in incentives is a lot!
Cha, do you know what the qualifier is for an incentive to be counted against the cap in the current year vs. NLTBE? For example, if an incentive is tied to making the Pro Bowl, would Seattle be hit with that in year 1 since he made the Pro Bowl last season, or because it was the first one he made in 10 seasons it would be NLTBE?
You got it.
If the player reached the threshold in the prior year, they are LTBE and hit the cap the same year.
If not, they are NLTBE and hit the cap the following year.
Doesn’t matter what was done in years prior to last year.
Cool. Fingers crossed most of the incentives are tied to All Pro and making the NFCCG and Super Bowl.
I think it is safe to assume the incentives are spread out as well.
$10m for each year, that type of thing.
If we actually get him for a base and most likely earned of 25 mil a year that really ain’t bad and is pretty good negotating considering his level of play last year and that that is basically half of what the top guys currently get. Still want overthecap to release the full details soon tho!
“That makes it a two-year, $50 million deal (plus incentives). It also means the Seahawks could potentially move on after one season. They’d owe $12 million for 2024; possibly, he’d get that much (or close to it) on the open market, offsetting Seattle’s obligation.”
Reasonable deal, and a good bridge contract. This is definitely more of a Matt Flynn prove it you can continue at this level deal. Though I’d prefer to spend the money elsewhere, the team is also setting themselves up for an Alex Smith/Mahomes type scenario. Two for one. Now come draft time, let’s hope it pans out.
Agreed, this is more palatable than the 35mil average initially being touted.
In their latest mocks, Dane Brugler & Lance Zierlein both have Seattle taking Carter at 5 whilst passing on Levis. It’s an obvious talent & need fit so I understand why they’re slotting him to us. Given PCJS emphasis on character and how it led to their best draft class in years, it doesn’t make sense that they would pivot off that. I’ve had to click off both mocks immediately upon seeing that which is a shame because I typically enjoy their content & love looking at mocks but seems to be a rough year to look at mocks as a Seahawks fan. That’s the one scenario that just seems practically impossible to me. Doesn’t seem like the mainstream media is super dialed in to what Seattle values. Appreciate your hard work Rob and detailed analysis. Thanks for giving Hawks fans a place where we can all deep dive into Seattle’s reasonable plans this draft. Love the posts, pods & streams. Helps keep fans like myself sane during a critical off season. Keep it up!
As a person who didn’t want them to resign Gino and I’m not emotionally vested in their record for the next couple seasons, I will happily eat crow if the contract is reasonable and it sounds like it is so far. But that also includes they have to make an effort to address that position for the future with that number five pick. That would tell me that there’s something more to just this compete right now thing at the expense of the future. Again I will happily eat crow and say Pete and John are thinking more than short-term but it really depends on how aggressive they are in this draft and how they look at that position in the future I’m just not into this 9 to 10 win team over and over for the last five or six years, questionable drafting, questionable trades, short-term contracts for players that no one else wants, over paying your own players and ignoring key positions while dumping everything into guys like Jamal Adams. Not into that. I’m fine with the Alex Smith Patrick Mahomes model but they have to make that second part a reality.
With Geno’s favorable contract figures released, I am at peace. This opens a great set of options in the draft, with the opportunity to get a high ceiling developmental QB at 5, or get BPA and potentially target another QB option in rounds 2 or 3. I do believe this contract minimizes the chances that we trade up to get a player – we can now more comfortably sit back and let the board come to us. From a QB perspective and speculating a bit at this stage, i would assume: Colts trade up to #1 and get a high traits QB (thinking Levis for his physical traits, but perhaps Stroud…maybe take a shot at AK) – the Colts are the one team i am more concerned about, since i think they might be targeting a very similar physical profile at QB than we are. Texans at #2 will likely stay put and take a QB – given their situation, they won’t risk it: they need hits, not HRs. Thus, i would assume they take either Stroud if available, or Young. The cardinals are tricky – this looks like a trade-down scenario too…Im tempted to think that a team trading up will be looking at either Stroud or Young, maybe Levis. The bears at 4 could either trade down again (less likely) or target BPA available (Anderson). At 5 then, i think we should be able to get either AK or Anderson (hoping for AK). AK’s conditions are through the roof, but he still needs a lot of work to be ready – good news is, we can offer that. I have to say, previous drafts seemed easier to predict at the top, but this one will be incredibly interesting with so many potential combinations. I trust that JS will make good things happen.
My question for everyone is what do you when pick 20 comes and 3 teams offer you really good value because Jalen Carter is still on the board. Do take the best trade or do you take Jalen Carter.
I would take the trade. I want no part of Jalen Carter’s decision making right now.
Probably a better question for the Texans or the Bears or the Cardinals because Schneider still needs to trade up and get his guy at the most important position on the football field.
I dont think Carter will be available at 20 despite all the ongoing saga. His physical profile is just too attractive – Micah Parsons comes to mind. I think he will drop, but not beyond say 12?
What are yalls thoughts on Lamar Jackson and the QB needy teams at the top of the draft. Do we think one of them will trade for a more sure thing in Jackson? That would allow one of the QBs to potentially slip and end up at #5.
In that case you just traded a QB needy team for another, Baltimore.
I think if the Ravens traded Jackson for Houston or Indy’s high pick, then they need a QB and they would be in prime position to do so.
I’m happy if Carolina or Atlanta (teams drafting after us) trade for Jackson.
Right. My brain was not working properly lol
JMac on Cowherd “this just in”: Geno got 25 per with another 5 in achievable bonuses.
Only 391 comments?
What a bunch of slackers.
like 5 from me, I’m doing my part!
Carroll on Geno’s contract:
(emphasis added)
I think this is an underrated aspect of Seattle’s recent contracts.
There’s been talk on sdb for a long time that Seattle isn’t a desirable FA destination anymore and doesn’t that suck and how can they change that.
It’s easy to look at the relative premiums they paid to retain Dissly, Bellore and now Geno (if you even consider his contract a premium for his position) and label it sentimentality. And that is part of it. But it’s also just good business. It’s good business “to message to everybody on the outside that this is a good place and things are going in the right direction.”
Especially as we near the opening of FA.
I’m gonna have to contradict you again, with apologies, if the moment comes this offseason to cut Shelby Harris, because he is a player who delivered and will be a victim of rewarding players who didn’t really deserve it – not including Geno among them.
I could see a restructure/extension over an outright cut. But im not sure your comment about Harris makes sense. If they cut Harris, that is a Hawks decision. Geno’s choice to commit to a team friendly deal shows he wants to be here and the culture here is right. Cutting Harris wouldnt have any reflection on that.
No apologies needed. Again I appreciate the discourse.
I would counter that Harris isn’t in the same category as Smith or Dissly or Bellore. Firstly, he’d be a cap casualty cut, or perhaps a restructuring/renegotiation of his contract, not an impending FA retention.
Also, Harris isn’t in the same category as the others in terms of his connection to the team and their rewarding his long term commitment and contribution. Cutting him doesn’t signal to the League “we don’t value our own”; it signals, at worst, he’s not in their long term plans.
But who knows what will happen with Harris. He’s good enough to retain if they can reduce his 2023 cap hit. This little aside may all be mute if they extend him too.
CAN PEOPLE PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT SHELBY HARRIS OR AL WOODS WERE PLAYERS THAT “DELIVERED” LAST YEAR.
THE SEAHAWKS RUN DEFENSE WAS 30TH IN THE LEAGUE!!!! Only Chicago and Houston were worse.
***I am pretty sure that defensive line play has something to do with a defense that couldn’t even stop 3rd string running backs!!!***
Harris missed 4 games. Woods missed 5 games. Woods only played 30% of snaps! Both Quinton Jefferson and Poona Ford played more (not a reason to sign them or not cut them, bt-dubs)!!! They weren’t injured and, even in games that Harris and Woods were in, they were on the field more. Neither Harris nor Woods produce sacks or splash plays. No one could stop the run. Jefferson, Woods, and Harris are all old as fuck.
JUST FUCKING STOP IT. Maybe they were half-decent. That is about all they “delivered”.
They need to cut Harris. And only re-sign if the contract is affordable. They can make Jefferson and Woods come to camp, compete, maybe get beat out by younger, cheaper players, and, if not, they can threaten to cut them at the moment when no one around the leagues has millions lying around to pay average dudes who are over the hill.
Sorry for the rant. Just stop posting stuff that is not supported by the evidence. And yea, maybe there’s a reason to reward players. But there are also reasons to be cutthroat and not pay big dollars to sub-prime talent.
Could definitely help attract talented players who haven’t panned out. Seattle can say “look, we give guys second chances, set them up to succeed, and reward them if they do.” Also sends a great message to players they already have: “look at Geno, he worked hard in our program, got better, we rewarded him, and you could be next.”
Not a terrible deal and QB feels very much in play, as of now.
I do not think the Seahawks will move up, but my gut says 4 QBs will not go in a row and if 3 go, Bryce Young will likely be one of them.
My guess is one of the Cardinals or Bears will end up still in the top 4 and will have their pick of the best defensive player in the draft.
I wonder how this affects the Lamar Jackson situation, who wants insane Deshaun Watson money.
In other free agency news Joe Mixon’s house is a crime scene today. Something about shots fired. Maybe Cincy would entertain bringing Zeke back to Ohio if he is cut by Dallas.
Weeeeeee !!!
If they want a productive RB, they won’t do that. Zeke is done.
I am struggling to watch pff’s draft this morning. I absolutely love data. But I’ve long had doubts about the efficacy of their process.
Most of the time when I crunch numbers it’s just pen and paper and basic algebra.
Today one of the “smart marks,” ( for fans of wrestling) says Carolina over all the way from 9 to three and it’s only going to cost two second rounders. One this year, one the following. For CJ stroud.
So by their “calculations,” it should just be a painless pick swap and this years pick 52 to move up to three for us.
Yeah, we know moving to the top 3 isn’t going to be that easy.
PFF is so much more media driven now. You really noticed it at the Senior Bowl. It was a slick operation.
Apparently we go Carter.
Though we may go Levis who apparently needs a year to sit
And now I’m having an aneurysm…as I type this Levis is Tebow with a cannon.
Tebow almost could not physically throw a football like a football.
Pff mock.
Well, it’s not all bad at least. They also have us taking Josh Downs at 37 and Luke Wypler at 53, which would be pretty incredible. If we paired that 2nd round with Levis at 5 and Ade Ade or Keion White at 20 you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for months.
Ha!
Yeah I haven’t got there in article form. Just listening to two wonks on YouTube
I just got roasted on that twitter thread for insinuating there’s zero chance Carter is on their board and that drafting a QB was realistic. (‘They just signed Gino’ )🥴🥴🥴
I don’t post here much but good to come home where sanity prevails.
It feels like Seattle is on an island.
Where people have zero idea,what they do at draft time.
You’re more tolerant than me. I couldn’t be on Twitter because I’d have a stroke!
Honestly the mental gymnastics people compete in to avoid mocking us a QB could be an Olympic sport. This is just a small sample of the comments I’ve received in the past week alone:
— Geno is a franchise QB
— We’re only a few defensive players away from being a contender
— We have way too many holes to use a pick on a QB
— Defense wins championships
— Championships are won in the trenches
— Levis should be a 5th round pick / Levis will be an instant bust / Levis is Josh Rosen
— Richardson is undraftable / Richardson is Malik Willis
— Rick Mirer was bad, therefore drafting a QB in the first round is bad
— You can win a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer
— You just need a game manager like Brock Purdy
— You can find great QBs in the 7th round
The real fun is when you find the same person spouting off several of these increasingly contradictory statements. This is why I pretty much don’t comment anywhere outside of SDB anymore.
Here’s my 2023 1st Mockfor top 10/ Chicago doubles up on trade downs:
1. Indianapolis trades up for CJ. Stroud
2. Houston takes Bryce Young
3. Carolina trades up for Anthony Richardson
4. Vegas trades up for Will Levis (Chicago continues to add draft capital)
5. Seattle takes Anderson with all QBs off the board
6. Detroit takes risk on Jalen Carter
7. Chicago takes Tyree Wilson
8. Atlanta takes Christian Gonzalez
9. Arizona takes Myles Murphy
10. Bjion Robinson
makes total sense to me.
Anderson at 5
Kancey at 20
Downs at 37
Wypler at 52
Hooker at 83
Gross! I’d flat cry…
Not what I’m hoping for either, but I haven’t seen one with all 4 gone yet.
So decided to see what it might look like if it did.
As far as I can tell, that’s never happened in NFL history (first 4 QB’s). It seems unlikely just from a historical standpoint. I also don’t see why Chicago would need/want to trade down twice with Anderson sitting there and they have already loaded up on draft picks at that point.
I was hoping Geno would leave, and Seattle would bring Locke back cheap, sign some free agent Defensive players who don’t suck, and draft a QB not named Young or Hooker. But if they managed to leave some room for FA and kept Geno and still get one of the top 4 qbs, I’ll be happy too.
Under Carrol, Seattle has never paid big money, nor spent a pick higher than the second round on a DT (J Reed). As good as Carter is, even without his legal problems and questionable work ethic, I can’t see them spending a high pick on any DT, and certainly not a guy with so many problems. Seattle under Carrol has repeatedly chafed at having to pay a DT even mid-level money, I’m not convinced their recent struggles with a 3-4 make them any more likely to draft Carter. I do think they want and need a bigger 3-4 DE with pass rush, and a DT who can play in a 3-4 who can rush too. I bet 2 of their first 4 picks are those positions, in fact.
Does Will Anderson fit in Seattle’s 3-4? Do any of the top 3 pass rushers?
I want them to do whatever it takes to move up and get one of Stroud, Richardson, or Levis. Swing for the fences, we can’t afford to let this chance slip away for a guy with measurables less impressive than Cliff Avrils.
Will Anderson could fit in a 3-4. He would play a similar OLB role as Nwosu on the opposite side of the field (the Mafe spot).
I consider Collier a bad 3-4 DE, but I guess he could be considered a DT, and he was taken in Round One. I try to forget he ever existed…
I think Jalen Carter is going to do a Warren Sapp like dive on draft day.
All the “It was just a youthful mistake. It was just a misdemeanor. He won’t do any jail time.” comments show how much many fans miss the important point. The question isn’t whether he is a criminal or a bad guy. The question is whether his lengthy record of immaturity means you can’t rely on him. Do you gamble at 5 on a guy who is at risk of flaming out like Malik McDowell or Isaiah Wynn? Or do you take a safer prospect like Tyree Wilson?
Well that would be really great if that was related to Peacock/diggs…
He’s finally going let Cody Barton off his leash!
I’m worried Seattle will let good 4-3 prospects and players go, and then the 3-4 experiment will still fail.
They said they had to switch, so offenses wouldn’t know where the fourth and/or fifth rushers were coming from on any given play, then they pretty much just rushed Nwosu from an obvious pass rush location, or Taylor from an equally obvious spot. That totally negated any element of surprise inherent in a 3-4.
Sadly, I think if they went back to a 4-3 and had Taylor bulk up a bit, their pass rush with him and Nwosu at DE would be pretty good. Plus we would still have Robinson and the other young guy.
This transition isn’t going well.
Where are these Carroll quotes coming from? Did he give an interview somewhere?
He was on the Brock & Salk show this morning.
My fatal flaw. When I first heard the news of the Geno Smith contract. I was irate. To say the least. I said. “Well now I am going to be a Joe Burrow and Cincinnati Bengals fan”. So what is my fatal flaw. I jumped to conclusions before I had all the facts. After hearing more of the details, I am not as upset as I was when I first heard the news. Geno Smith gets 40mil guaranteed. The Seahawks are only on the hook for 40mil. And basically, the Seahawks can get out of this deal after only one year. John Schneider is still going to have some money left over in free agency to help the defense. So it is not the end of the world. The Seahawks can still go QB if the player is still on the board.
These are the top five players in this draft. In no particular order.
1). C.J. Stroud
2) Anthony Richardson
3) Will Levis
4) Will Anderson Jr.
5) Bryce Young
Seattle is guaranteed 1 of those players.
We know that there is a 99.9% Indianapolis and Carolina will take a QB.
All signs are pointing to Carolina moving up to take a QB. They are almost willing to mortgage their future for a QB. Carolina does have draft capital to entice teams ahead of the Seahawks. Especially after the Christian McCaffrey trade.
Raiders and Falcons also need a QB. What are those teams going to do? Also, there is a 95% chance that Houston will take a QB.
Including Seattle there are at least six teams in the top ten of the draft looking at the QB position.
This is before free agency. So, things can and probably will change before draft day.
Just for the record. Anthony Richardson was impressed by Pete Carroll.
You got to hand it to Pete Carroll. The guy is a salesman.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/seahawks-combine-meeting-with-anthony-richardson-felt-different-says-qb/ar-AA18ix6H?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2f28ed12c7144f7486ca0e5be5717dd0&ei=7
Hey Rob,
I saw that Lance Zierlein just released his 2023 Draft Big Board. I know you said we should pay attention to his rankings. His tiers are “elite”, “good starter”, “average starter” and “back-up”.
He only had two “elite” grades: Jalen Carter and Will Anderson
He had 10 “good starters” of which only one was a QB (Bryce Young). Others included: Bjon Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, Luke Musgrave, Peter Skoronski, Tyree Wilson, Myles Murphy, Drew Sanders, Christian Gonzalez, Brian Branch.
He had Stroud, Richardson and Levis in the next tier of “Good Starter”.
Curious to hear your thoughts on his big board when you see it. I do like to see Drew Sanders on the “Good Starters” tier. I’m a huge fan of that guy. Would like to see him or Ade Ade at that 20 pick.
thanks again for this blog. I check it multiple times a day. Its great to see a bunch of passionate Seahawks fans.
I respect Lance as much as anyone in the biz — he consistently puts in enormous effort, works the tape and his reports are brilliant. I do tend to disagree with a fair few of his thoughts/grades but that’s fine — I don’t just want to read people who agree with me all the time (contrary to what some think!)
Click if you could use a little comic relief:
https://twitter.com/The33rdTeamFB/status/1633174172250812437
Why is LJ so low? This aggression will not stand, man
Let’s hope that Lance’s views reflect some of the other front offices and both Bryce Young and Will Anderson are both selected in the top 4!
Like usual, they always over pay their own and low ball outside *good* FAs.
Geno and $28m 1st year with $40m guaranteed… the opposite of Belchick approach
I would agree if the base value was $35M a year, but since it’s $25M with $10M in incentives, I think that’s pretty reasonable and not an overpay. Carr appears to be getting $100M guaranteed so Geno at 40% of that seems like a fair deal.
Carr’s deal isn’t really $100M though. It’s a 2-year deal with $60M guaranteed (really $70M since another $10M will become guaranteed in March 2024) plus an option to either play him at a $45M cap number in 2025 or eat $17M to cut him loose (or $5.5/$11.5 over two years as a post-6/1 cut). But even at that, Geno is a far more digestible deal for my taste, and even if he plays like he did the second half of the season, he’s most likely still a better player than Carr. I think it’s the best deal we could have hoped for (unless you were hoping we didn’t re-sign him at all).
And lets be honest, would you prefer Carr to Geno? I sure as hell wouldn’t, even at the same price.
Belichick has gone 25-25 post Tom Brady and had one winning season in 6 seasons prior… How much of his success was having the best quarterback in league history?