Seahawks QB Geno Smith stays in Seattle after agreeing to a three-year, $105million contract
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is staying in Seattle after agreeing to a three-year, $105 million contract before Tuesday’s franchise tag deadline.
The Seattle Seahawks will bring back quarterback Geno Smith on a three-year deal worth $105 million, multiple outlets reported Monday, just one day before the league’s deadline to use the franchise tag.
The 32-year-old was set to hit unrestricted free agency after the first Pro Bowl season of his nine-year NFL career. Instead, he will remain in Seattle and average $35 million per year. The deal will include $52 million in the first year, ESPN informed.
Smith was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year last season after taking over the Seahawks’ offense in the first year after the Russell Wilson era and guiding them to a wild card playoff berth with an overall record of 9 -8.
After serving as Wilson’s backup from 2019-21, Smith beat out Drew Lock for the job in the preseason and proceeded to start all 17 games, his first year as a full-time starter since his first two NFL seasons with the New Yorkers. York Jets.
The veteran led the NFL in completion percentage at 69.8 percent (399 passes) and passed for a career-high 4,282 yards (also a franchise record) and 30 touchdowns along with 11 interceptions. He added 366 rushing yards and a score.
Geno Smith signed a new 3-year deal with Seattle after becoming the Seahawks’ starting QB
The Seahawks were clear about wanting to re-sign Smith, but Seattle coach Pete Carroll also said during the scouting combine in Indianapolis that the Seahawks are “totally hooked” on quarterbacks in the draft class of 2023.
The team has the fifth pick in the draft and five picks in the top 83.
Carroll said keeping Smith and drafting a quarterback is a definite possibility.
‘We have our boy, we need to hopefully figure things out so he’s with us. There is business to be done there, of course, but there is no limit to what we can do. The sky’s the limit,’ Seattle coach Pete Carroll said after the season.
“That, in addition to bringing him back with his leadership factor that he had, is a big problem for us. I just couldn’t be more thrilled with the way it all turned out and how he handled it.
“Really, as we look to the future, he’s a big part of why we look to the future so brightly.”
In 10 NFL seasons with the Jets (2013-16), New York Giants (2017), LA Chargers (2018) and Seahawks, Smith has thrown for 11,199 yards, 64 touchdowns and 48 interceptions with a 62.8 completion percentage.
He has had 1,067 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns.
The second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft made it clear after Seattle’s season ended with a 41-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the playoffs that he wanted to return to Lumen Field in September.
‘I want to finish my career in Seattle. I want. I want to be here,’ Smith said. ‘The town, the city, the team, Coach Carroll, the organization, they all embraced me. I was a guy who probably could have been out of the league.’
“They hugged me and I want to pay them back for that.”