Source: Seahawks keeping Geno Smith to guarantee salary for 2024, never doubt they would
The Seahawks’ new coaches still have the same quarterback.
A league source confirmed to The News Tribune Thursday the Seahawks will keep Geno Smith on their roster through this week. That will trigger a clause in his contract that guarantees all of his $12.7 million contract for 2024.
It was never a question from within the team they would do this, the source said.
That greatly increases the likelihood Smith, 33, will be Seattle’s starting quarterback for the third consecutive season this summer into fall and winter.
His contract extension he signed with the Seahawks before last season, worth up to $75 million, runs through the 2025 season.
The team has three other veterans who will get all of parts of their salaries for 2024 guaranteed if they are on the roster past Friday: wide receiver DK Metcalf, outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and defensive end Dre’Mont Jones.
At quarterback, general manager John Schneider, the franchise’s new ultimate football authority after team chair Jody Allen fired Pete Carroll last month, new head coach Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb are choosing Smith over the unknown. They are choosing to pay market rate for a veteran QB who’s been to the last two Pro Bowls.
Smith in his two seasons as Seattle’s replacement for traded Russell Wilson has thrown for more than 4,200 and 3,600 yards with 30 and 20 touchdowns against 11 and nine interceptions in 2022 and ‘23, respectively.
The Seahawks believe that’s worth the 12th-highest salary-cap charge in the NFL for a quarterback in 2024.
The next contract milestone for Smith, who turns 34 during next season, is March 17. That’s the day after which he will receive a $9.6 million bonus for being on the roster, more than five days after the start of the new league year.
Drew Lock, Smith’s backup last season, is poised to become a free agent next month. His Seahawks contract ended with the 2023 season ending in Seattle out of the playoffs for only the third time in 12 months.
Lock rallied the team late past defending NFC-champion Philadelphia in a Monday night game in December. That increases the likelihood he gets more attractive offers in free agency this March than he did last March. Last year he was coming off a 2022 season in which he didn’t play behind Smith in Seattle. Lock, 27, re-signed with the Seahawks for one year and $4 million.
He’s made it clear he wants to play in 2024.
Macdonald and Grubb have made it clear they are looking forward to coaching Smith and Lock with the Seahawks this year.
“He’s a really good player,” Macdonald said of Smith. “Pretty sure he’s at the Pro Bowl right now.
“But we’re going to build around the quarterback. You’ve got to. Just like we say on defense, we build the system around the players on defense, we’re going to build it around the players on offense. And the most important player is the QB.
“We’ll see how the whole situation shakes out over time. But excited to get to meet those guys, Drew.”
The NFL is in a “dead period” for coaching incumbent players, so Grubb pointed out Thursday his contact with his quarterbacks have been “to get to know them as people, so no scheme or anything like that.”
“He’s great,” Grubb said of Smith. “He’s a competitor. He wants to be coached. He wants to be the best. It means a lot to him.
“Just hearing his story and his growth as a player and a person is inspiring, honestly.
“So I’m really fired up and looking forward to coaching him and Drew both. They are both wonderful guys, and they are competitors.”
The Seahawks have the 16th pick in the first round of this spring’s draft.
Grubb leaving Alabama, where he was with coach Kalen DeBoer for three weeks after leaving UW, and returning to Seattle to become the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator in his first NFL job, has made it plausible the team will draft Michael Penix Jr., Grubb’s quarterback with the Huskies.
Many NFL scouting experts see Penix and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix as likely to be drafted just after the top three elite QBs in this year’s class: USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
Penix was renowned in college football for his accuracy on deep passes in Grubb’s UW offense the last two seasons.
Grubb said Thursday he’s impressed with Smith’s accuracy throwing in the NFL.
Grubb was introduced as Seattle’s new offensive coordinator, about the time the TNT learned Smith was remaining on the roster.
Asked what has stood out to Grubb about how Smith plays, Grubb mentioned Smith’s poise at quarterback.
“I think he’s got good presence,” the Seahawks’ new play caller said. “I’ve been impressed with his decision-making. Last year in 2022 he led the league in completion percentage. That says a lot in this league, when you talk about how hard those decisions are, number one, and how tight those windows are (to throw into). So to be productive at that level, to be the best in the league at it, says a lot.
“He pushed over 65% last year. It just shows that he’s got the ability to be accurate and make good decisions. That’s what, ultimately, (it comes down to is if) the guy is tough, smart, can lead and is dependable, and can make good decisions.
“I think Geno is more than capable of doing that.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 12:31 PM.
