Seahawks BREAKING: No Geno Smith Trade With New Contract Restructure?
One week after his base salary became fully guaranteed for the 2024 season, the Seattle Seahawks have started making moves to create salary cap space to help build around quarterback Geno Smith.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, Seattle has restructured Smith's $9.6 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, spreading the cap hit over the next two seasons. With the quarterback receiving his roster bonus now instead of March 18, the team will create $4.8 million in instant cap relief in what should be the first of several moves to open up financial wiggle room before free agency opens next month.
After signing a three-year extension last March, Smith didn't quite replicate his breakout 2022 numbers in his second season as Seattle's starter. Missing two games with a groin injury in December, he threw for 3,624 yards with 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions, coming up short of production-based contract incentives based on equaling his statistics from the season prior.
Coming off a second straight Pro Bowl selection, the Seahawks answered questions about Geno Smith's future by restructuring his roster bonus into a signing bonus.
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With his cap hit set to triple to $31.2 million in the second season of his contract and the Seahawks bringing in a new coaching staff led by Mike Macdonald, his future has been up for much speculation even after his $12.7 million base salary became locked in on February 16.
But while Smith threw 10 fewer touchdowns and saw his completion percentage dip nearly five percent, the veteran quarterback finished the season on a high note, throwing 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions in his final seven starts. Showing off his clutch gene, he also led the league with five game-winning drives and became the first player in NFL history with seven go-ahead touchdown passes in the fourth quarter in a single season.
Over the past two seasons, few quarterbacks have been better or more consistent than Smith, who ranks sixth in passing yards, sixth in passing touchdowns, and fourth in completion percentage out of qualified passers during that span. Only the 12th-highest paid quarterback in the NFL in 2024, his contract remains a quality value as a starter in the short term and his presence on the roster isn't a deterrence for drafting a signal caller in April either.
While it isn't out of the question Smith could be traded if a team inquired with a strong package in return, comments from Macdonald and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb have suggested the Seahawks wanted him and veteran backup Drew Lock to return in 2024. If they were intending to deal him or go a different direction at quarterback, they wouldn't have rushed to turn his roster bonus into a signing bonus.
Instead, Seattle looks poised to roll into another season with Smith under center with a new cap hit of $26.4 million, the 15th highest in the league. For a two-time Pro Bowler, that's quite the bargain, and with a few more cap-creating moves, the organization can get back to work bolstering the supporting cast around him with hopes of getting back to the playoffs in 2024.
