Seahawks, Geno Smith agree to new contract worth $105 million

It’s a done deal!

The Seattle Seahawks have agreed to terms with quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year deal worth up to $105 million, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Tomorrow (Tuesday) was the deadline to apply the franchise tag, which the Seahawks were unlikely to ever use on Smith. Geno will not test the free agent market, which was also a possibility, but the Seahawks made sure to get a deal done a week before the start of the new league year.

We’ll presumably have more concrete details on how that $105 million contract breaks down, but we know the APY is $35 million, which puts him in the range of Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff, and below the contract Derek Carr received from the New Orleans Saints.

At the moment, Smith is the only quarterback on the Seahawks roster, as Drew Lock is an impending free agent. It’s possible they re-sign Lock, but unlike last year we know that the plan for 2023 is the Geno will be Seattle’s Week 1 starter. Pete Carroll and John Schneider didn’t rule out drafting a quarterback early even with Geno on the roster, and certainly three years is shorter than the standard four years (or four + fifth-year option) for a rookie.

Geno Smith was written off. He wrote back with a genuinely impressive 2022 season, won NFL Comeback Player of the Year, clinched a playoff berth, and the Seahawks have written Geno a big check to stay in Seattle.