Pete Carroll: Seahawks closer on new Geno Smith deal — while they are in on NFL draft’s QBs
The Seahawks continue to be all-in working to get Geno Smith a new contract to remain their quarterback.
They also are all-in on the top quarterbacks in this NFL draft class full of them.
That was coach Pete Carroll’s message — loud and clear — to the league Tuesday as its annual scouting combine began in Indianapolis.
Seattle thinks it will have its 2022 Pro Bowl quarterback re-signed before free agency begins and the rest of the NFL could bid on the 32-year-old veteran. That’s March 15, the start of the new league year.
“It’s ongoing. We are doing it,” Carroll said off-podium inside the Indiana Convention Center early Tuesday afternoon.
“How’s it going? I think it’s going to go (in) the right direction. We’ve got to get it done.”
A couple hours later, general manager John Schneider had his own term for the ongoing negotiations with Smith and his representatives from the Wasserman Media Group.
“Close? I would say positive,” Schneider said.
“All these negotiations, some go faster than others. You’re talking about larger numbers that take a little more time. It’s different in different sports with guaranteed contracts, so there’s a lot more that goes into these contracts.”
The Seahawks could ensure Smith does not enter the free-agent market in two weeks, even without an agreement on a new multiyear deal, by using its franchise tag on him. That would be a one-year, guaranteed deal worth $32.4 million for the quarterback — but with all $32.4 million counting against this year’s salary cap for the team.
It’s an option that would provide Seattle with four more months to finalize that multiyear deal. Teams can per NFL rules continue to negotiate with franchise-tagged players on multiyear contracts until mid-July. If no deal is done by then, the player plays that season under the franchise tag.
It’s an option the Seahawks don’t want to use, because of the potential cap charge and leverage for Smith to then not accept any deal worth less than that $32.4 million for 2023.
Asked how realistic a franchise tag is for Smith, Schneider said. “Yeah, that’s, that’s something — I know, you’re a good guy and all that — but that’s not something I would tell you.”
Schneider acknowledged the contract with Smith will shape the rest of what Seattle does — and can do — this offseason signing free agents to help a needy defense. The Seahawks enter March with $24.4 million in cap space, eight-most in the league, per overthecap.com.
“Obviously, it’s when you’re signing a quarterback, there’s a cap tag in there that definitely takes other things out of the mix,” Schneider said. “But we know where we have to be in order to be able to field a championship team and you want to... It’s two-fold, right? You want to max out everybody’s opportunities for themselves and then max out the opportunity for the organization at every position, especially the positions that you feel you need to improve on.”
Carroll said the team and Smith are far closer on getting a new deal done than they were when last season ended with the Seahawks’ playoff loss at San Francisco. That was six weeks ago.
“Oh, yeah,” the coach said. “We’re going back and forth, so we’re on it. This is a serious time of it, and we’ll see how it works out.
“There’s a lot going on, though, along with that, too.”
That includes having the fifth-overall pick in April’s draft. It’s the highest choice Seattle’s had in the 13-year regime of Carroll and Schneider running the franchise.
It’s the highest Seattle has held a pick since 2009.
That means the Seahawks want the NFL to know, yes, they are in on scouting, interviewing and considering Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis, Anthony Richardson, Hendon Hooker — any and all of the top college quarterbacks here at the combine and entering this QB-stacked draft.
Carroll said while the Seahawks are talking hard to re-sign Smith for 2023 and beyond, “we are totally connected to the quarterbacks that are coming out” in this draft class.
That’s because of what the coach called Seattle’s “incredible” opportunity holding a generational pick, fifth overall, in this draft.
That’s no doubt true.
And it’s no doubt intended to be a signal to quarterback-needy teams sitting below Seattle in the first round, such Carolina picking ninth, that the Seahawks are open to listen to trade offers to move down a bit in this draft and collect even more top picks than the four in the 52 selections Seattle has in the windfall from trading Russell Wilson to Denver 12 months ago.
“It’s the position we are in. We are totally connected to the quarterbacks that are coming out,” Carroll said.
“This is a really huge opportunity for us. It’s a rare opportunity. We’ve been drafting in the low 20s for such a long time you just don’t get the chance at these guys. We are deeply involved with all that.”
Why would the Seahawks be looking at drafting a quarterback with the fifth pick while closing in on re-signing their veteran starter for multiple years beyond 2023?
Let’s as the team’s GM that was on Green Bay’s personnel staff that decided to draft Aaron Rodgers with Brett Favre entrenched as the Packers’ franchise quarterback back in the day.
“Because they don’t grow on trees,” Schneider said of elite quarterbacks.
“It’s probably the hardest position to acquire talent that everyone feels very confident in.”
This month at the Pro Bowl Smith said it was looking “very good” for him signing a new contract to remain with the Seahawks. He is seeking his first multiyear deal since the rookie contract he signed with the New York Jets in 2013, at a salary that will like raise him from $3.5 million last year to perhaps $30 million per season.
Whether the Seahawks give him a two- or three-year deal, or longer, will shape how highly they draft a quarterback in April. A two-year deal means Seattle could draft a QB to groom as Smith’s replacement in a couple years. A five-year deal for Smith means it would make little sense for the Seahawks to use a top pick on a quarterback with a veteran under contract for the life of a rookie deal, four years.
Smith would love the money and relative security of a four- or five-year contract. That’s not out of the question for the Seahawks to give. Even though he’s 32, seven of his 10 NFL seasons he’s spent as a backup not playing. So he’s a young, relatively healthy and not-hit 32.
“There’s no question,” Carroll said off the podium Tuesday. “He hasn’t had — knock on something wood somewhere — he hasn’t had any of the issues with his legs. You know, he’s really been healthy and he isn’t overworked. He’s pretty fresh coming out of that at 32.
“And he showed it (this past season). He showed it in his running ability last year and movement and stuff. He did a very good job.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 10:53 AM.
