Geno Smith keeps his support for Russell Wilson quieter, preps for Seahawks vs Steelers
Geno Smith has decided to keep his “Free Russell Wilson” campaign somewhat underground.
Or at least, only online.
Smith, the Seahawks’ quarterback who replaced Wilson after Seattle traded Wilson to Denver before the 2022 season, posted on the social-media account formerly known as Twitter Wednesday: “FREE 3”
Smith was Wilson’s backup in Seattle for three years, 2019-21.
Thursday, Smith chose to leave his tweet to speak for itself.
Asked before the Seahawks’ practice in Renton Thursday for their game Sunday against Pittsburgh about his thoughts on what Wilson is going through in Denver, Smith said “I’m just here to talk about the Steelers.”
Smith’s wants all to know he remains focused on leading the Seahawks (8-7) to wins against Pittsburgh (8-7) at Lumen Field Sunday (1:05 p.m., channel 13) and at Arizona next week to end the regular season. Two wins would clinch Seattle’s 10th playoff appearance in 12 years.
Asked Thursday if posting “FREE 3” was indeed a message of support for Wilson, Smith stayed consistent.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, “I’m talking about the Steelers today.”
Russell Wilson’s saga in Denver
Smith posted his online support of Wilson Wednesday hours after Broncos coach Sean Payton announced he was benching Wilson for Denver’s game this weekend.
The longer-term issue: The Broncos (7-8) are almost eliminated from the playoffs. They are sidelining Wilson for backup Jarrett Stidham before the team guarantees Wilson $37 million for 2025. That contract provision triggers is if he is on Denver’s roster March 17.
If the Broncos want to move on from Wilson two seasons after acquiring him then giving him a massive five-year contract extension that begins in 2024, this is how to do it.
The 2025 guarantee is against injury. Benching Wilson for Denver’s final two games keeps the team from the possibility Wilson gets injured to finish this season, and can’t pass a physical exam in March. In that event, the Broncos would have to guarantee that $37 million for 2025.
The Washington Post reported the Broncos “previously threatened to bench Wilson for the rest of the season if he did not agree to rework his contract to address the injury guarantee.” Mark Maske of The Post reported the Broncos came to Wilson with that after he and Denver upset the Kansas City Chiefs Oct. 29.
The Post reported the NFL and the league’s players’ union “became involved.”
The bottom line about Wilson’s saga in Denver not even two full seasons after his time as Seattle’s all-time winningest quarterback ended: It’s a reminder that even with a $243 million contract that’s yet to begin, a coach with the control the Broncos have given Payton can always get rid of a quarterback. And his NFL team can find ways to move money around the league’s hard salary cap to do it.
Wilson posted on his social-media account Wednesday night: “God’s got me. Looking forward to what’s next.”
Wilson, 35, looking forward to what team may want him for 2024 less than two years after being one of football’s top quarterbacks and highest-paid players through his Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning tenure?
The NFL is cold.
So what is next for Wilson?
His benching in Denver in the context of his contract situation invites the obvious question: Where will he play next year?
Entering this week 17, 58 quarterbacks have started a game in the league this season. That’s eight short of the record, 66, set last season.
Over half the teams in the 32-team league have started their backup quarterbacks for at least one game this season. That has included Drew Lock in Seattle.
Lock was the starter in Denver as recently as two years ago. He came to the Seahawks from the Broncos in the Wilson trade in March 2022. Lock started two Seattle games this month after Smith injured his groin in practice. Those were his first two NFL starts since late in the 2021 season for Denver.
Lock rallied the Seahawks to a season-best 92-yard touchdown drive in the final 1:52 and threw the winning scoring pass to rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a comeback win over Philadelphia Dec. 18.
That ended the Seahawks’ four-game losing streak and turned around Seattle’s season.
Lock’s one-year, $4 million contract ends after this season.
All the backups starting and benching of quarterbacks around the league shows half the NFL could be looking at QB options this spring.
The draft will have its usual crop of elite prospects. Those include USC Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, Washington Huskies college football playoff QB Michael Penix Jr., the Heisman runner-up this season, and this season’s Heisman winner, Jayden Daniels of LSU.
If the Broncos indeed release Wilson and swallow $85 million in cap charges to do it, he will become a free agent. Any team could sign him, likely to a low-salary, high-incentive deal.
A trade is extremely unlikely; no other team will want to take on a $50 million-a-year contract that has yet to start on a quarterback who turns 36 during next season.
The Las Vegas Raiders have started Jimmy Garoppolo, 38-year-old Brian Hoyer and now rookie Aidan O’Connell at quarterback this season. Wilson has wanted to play for the Raiders before. His agent Mark Rodgers had them among his list of four teams he revealed following the 2021 season that the QB would OK in a trade from the Seahawks.
The New England Patriots need a quarterback. They also need to sort out legendary coach Bill Belichick’s future beyond this season.
The Minnesota Vikings have started four quarterbacks this season, three since losing number-one QB Kirk Cousins to season-ending injury. They traded with Arizona for Joshua Dobbs, who started for the Cardinals at Seattle this season. They benched Dobbs and started Nick Mullens. Thursday the Vikings decided to bench Mullens and start rookie fifth-round draft choice Jalen Hall Sunday night against Green Bay.
A Seahawks reunion?
Yes, as sure as it rains in Seattle you’ve thought about it.
Would the Seahawks bring back Wilson for next season?
Not, it appears, as long as Smith is their quarterback. Smith is under contract with Seattle for two more years after this season.
Yes, the Wilson drama shows teams can change and move money around to get out of player contracts. And the Seahawks could release Smith at relatively low cost following this season, relative to the $75 million in his three-year extension he signed this past spring.
Pete Carroll, as much as any NFL coach, values relationships and people. No one in the NFL knows Wilson better than Carroll. Carroll maximized Wilson’s unique talents to lead Seattle to consecutive Super Bowls in the 2013 and ‘14 seasons. Wilson and Carroll remain the only quarterback and coach in Seahawks history to win a Super Bowl.
The highest football authority in Seattle, above general manager John Schneider, was the last man in the franchise to agree to trade Wilson in March 2022. And that was only after Wilson convinced him he didn’t want to be in Seattle long term — and only after Carroll saw the two first-round picks, two second-round picks and three players the Broncos were offering and ultimately gave the Seahawks for Wilson.
Carroll and Schneider have already moved on from Wilson.
This week, Carroll sure didn’t sound like Seattle’s top football authority that wants to move on from Smith.
He again lauded his 33-year-old quarterback for bulling through being an almost never-used backup for seven years, seven different one-year contracts, with four teams. He praised Smith for seizing his starting chance last year making his first Pro Bowl and first playoff start while replacing Wilson for the Seahawks.
Carroll said of telling Smith during pregame Dec. 18 he wasn’t starting because of his groin injury as Smith wanted to, and Lock was facing the Eagles instead: “He was so frustrated. It killed me to have to go through that.”
Smith returned from the injury last weekend and rallied the Seahawks like Lock did against the Eagles six days earlier, to a final-drive touchdown for a comeback win at Tennessee.
“Fortunately it worked out. He came back and had a great week last week and played a phenomenal football game and won the game,” Carroll said Wednesday.
“There has been a lot that’s happened. Fortunately, because of our background and that we’ve been connected and communicated so much for so many years, even though it was hard — it wasn’t hard, nobody was yelling at anybody — we just had to work through and kind of hug our way through it. ...(We) just keep hanging, which Geno is famous for.
“Look what he did.
“It’s a real memorable span of time there,” Carroll said, “with one of my all-time favorite guys.”
Carroll, 72, has been coaching for more than a half a century. Since Richard Nixon was president. He’s led thousands of players from college through the NFL.
Why is Smith one of the coach’s “all-time favorite guys”?
“I love his story,” Carroll said.
“He’s taught me so much, and I admire him for the way he’s handled the competitive part of this thing. He’s taught us about belief in yourself and how powerful that is. As clear as an illustration of anybody that I can ever remember.
“Forget this year or last year, he was the same guy every time out and just kept hanging. I probably didn’t give him enough credit, because I probably didn’t believe it; ‘maybe he was kind of faking it, he was saying the right stuff.’ He meant it, man. He was on it, and he proved it.
“That’s what last year was all about. He proved that his confidence in himself and belief and conviction was real, and he came through in a huge way. He’s playing terrific football for us.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 5:00 PM.
