As QB market turns again, Seahawks have a Tuesday deadline with Geno Smith’s situation
Derek Carr is the latest quarterback to get paid.
And Geno Smith is the latest QB to smile.
The NFL’s quarterback carousel turned again Monday, in Smith’s favor, when Carr signed a new contract with New Orleans.
Carr’s deal further defined the free-agent market the Seahawks are trying to keep Smith from entering when it opens next week.
The Saints gave Carr, the former captain of the Las Vegas Raiders, a four-year contract reportedly worth up to $150 million. The crux of the new deal for Carr, 31: It guarantees him $60 million the first two years and $100 million over the first three years if the Saints want to keep him a third season.
That money, $30 million to $33 million guaranteed per year on average, is what Smith is likely seeking from the Seahawks. It also might be as high as the Seahawks want to go with their 32-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback.
That’s because should they not agree on a contract, the Seahawks could use their franchise tag on Smith to keep him from fielding offers in free agency. It would pay him a guaranteed $32.4 million for 2023, per the NFL’s tag charges by position for this year.
The deadline for teams to use their franchise tags is 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Tag could buy time
Last week at the NFL combine, general manager John Schneider refused to say if he expects his Seahawks to use their franchise tag this year.
Asked for the status of contracts talks that are ongoing with Smith’s agents, Schneider said: “It’s a process. Are we closer? Yeah.
“Are we at the finish line? You don’t know where the finish line is yet.’‘
One hurdle to clear is the tag deadline.
The Seahawks have only used their franchise tag twice in the 13 years Schneider and Pete Carroll have run the team: in their first year of 2010 with kicker Olindo Mare, and in 2019 with defensive end Frank Clark. That second instance, Schneider used the tag to buy time to trade Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs. That was after Clark reacted to a skyrocketing market at his position in the spring of 2019 and asked for more money than the Seahawks were willing to pay.
Using it this time on Smith wouldn’t necessarily mean Smith is going to play the 2023 season for Seattle on a one-year contract. It could be to buy more time, four months, to strike a multiyear deal Smith wants and hasn’t had since his rookie contract with the New York Jets he signed in 2013.
NFL rules allow teams to continue negotiating on a multiyear contract with a franchise-tagged player until mid-July. If there is no new deal by then, the tagged player is bound to play one season at price of the one-year tender offer at the franchise-tag value for his position.
A franchise tag also would signal the Seahawks are indeed squarely in the market to draft one of the top college quarterbacks available in April. Schneider and Carroll went out their way last week at the combine to declare that, even with their intent to re-sign Smith, they are all-in on the top QBs in this draft.
Seahawks interview Anthony Richardson
Seattle has the fifth pick, from Denver in last year’s trade of Russell Wilson that gave Smith his chance.
The Seahawks have become increasingly linked to Florida’s Anthony Richardson, the star of the combine. Seattle used one of its 45 formal interviews at the combine on Richardson, among other quarterbacks last week in Indianapolis.
“A cool moment came when Richardson met with the Seahawks,” Stephen Holder wrote for espn.com. “Richardson said he felt an instant rapport with energetic coach Pete Carroll.
“He had this big smile on his face,” Richardson recalled. “We shook hands, and something about it was just different. You only see these guys on TV. And now I’m in their presence, and they’re right there talking to me. And they’re interested in me. That makes you feel good.”
The Seahawks could trade down with Carolina at nine — Panthers GM Scott Fitterer is a former assistant for Schneider who worked in Seattle’s front office for 10 years ending in 2020 — perhaps still draft Richardson and gain more picks to rebuild the Seahawks’ porous defense. Fitterer said last week his Panthers are considering trading up from the ninth pick to draft the top quarterback they need.
For all his wondrous physical talents, running a 4.44-second 40-yard dash and setting combine records for vertical (40-1/2 inches) and broad jumping (10 feet, nine inches) at 244 pounds last week, Richardson made just 13 starts in college. He was just a 55% passer at Florida.
That relative inexperience could mean the Seahawks love Richardson’s athletic skills and passing skills but need him to grow into the NFL job. Signing Smith for two or three years would allow Richardson to do that, should the Seahawks go that way.
Asked why the Seahawks would re-sign Smith, as they expect to, yet still draft a quarterback in the first round next month, Carroll said last week in Indianapolis: “When you’re picking down on the bottom of the first round, those guys aren’t available. And so that’s what we have to take advantage of this time and this moment. And so we’ll see how it goes.”
At age 32 and after being a backup for seven years until his breakout 2022, Smith doesn’t want a franchise tag. Few players want a one-year deal, especially not Smith. He’s had seven of those in a row. He wants the security, signing bonus cash, guarantees and commitment of a multiyear contract.
Tuesday will determine how much a one-year deal for Smith is even a possibility.
This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 12:55 PM.
