Seahawks Roster: Geno Smith, Jamal Adams Salary Cap Casualties?
The Seahawks are beginning a new era in 2024 under new head coach Mike Macdonald. Typically with new coaches come sweeping changes across a roster, and those are expected in Seattle.
Macdonald just hired former Huskies offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb to lead his offense, and that could affect the quarterback position. Will Geno Smith play out the final year of his contract in Seattle?
Two things are going against him. His performance last season and his salary cap hit.
Statistically, Smith didn't have a terrible season, but his 8-7 record as a starter doesn't help. Last year, he had a very team-friendly $1.2 million base salary with a cap hit of $10.1 million. In 2024 those numbers go up. A lot.
Smith will be due $12.7 million in base salary and a team-high $31.2 million cap hit. And no, that's not a lot by quarterback standards in the NFL, but compared to the season prior it's a lot. It makes you wonder if the Seahawks ever meant for Smith to play out all three years of his deal in the first place.
General Manager John Schneider will need to decide on Smith sooner than later, as that $12.7 million becomes fully guaranteed on Feb. 16.
For safety Jamal Adams the decision seems clearer. Weighing his salary against his production it seems there's little chance he's on the roster in 2024. But hang on...
Let's look at the numbers. Adams will count $26.9 million against the salary cap in 2024, good enough for third-highest on the team. If he's cut pre-June 1, the team saves $6 million in salary. But it also means $20.8 million in a dead cap hit. If Schneider waits until after June 1, the team saves $17.5 million in salary and spreads the dead cap hit out as $10.4 million over the next two years.
The investment the Seahawks made in Adams certainly looks like a bad one at this point. His high cost, injury history, and declining play should make the decision to keep or cut Adams an easy one. But in football, it's all about the numbers and what makes sense for the ledger.
