Geno Smith signs 3-year, $105M contract with Seattle Seahawks

Geno Smith – refer to caption – CC BY-SA

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler, quarterback Geno Smith has inked a three-year, $105 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, with $52 million guaranteed in the first year.

Both parties agreed on Monday, beating the Tuesday deadline for organizations to use the franchise tag, which would have cost $32.416 million for quarterbacks in 2023.

The 32-year-old began his NFL career with the New York Jets in 2013 as a second-round draft pick. He had the starting spot for years until a training brawl with teammate IK Enemkpali resulted in a broken jaw.

Smith never reclaimed the starting job, instead taking the No. 2 spot with the New York Giants in 2017 before playing a season in the same role with the Los Angeles Chargers. Following that, Smith joined the Seahawks and was expected to be Russell Wilson’s backup in 2020.

After Wilson’s trade to the Denver Broncos, he defeated the widely expected favorite Drew Lock to become the Seahawks’ starting quarterback. Smith became one of the NFL’s biggest surprises by making it to the Pro Bowl and being named the league’s Comeback Player of the Year.

This season, he was among the league’s best in completion percentage at 69.8 percent, ranked sixth in Total QBR with a score of 60.8 and had 30 touchdown passes, which put him in fourth place. This record helped the Seahawks sneak into the playoffs as the NFC’s seventh seed.

His season record also significantly improved from his previous career-high completion rate of 58.8 percent and his 43.6 QBR over 46 games played before this past season.

Smith didn’t miss a single snap and broke records Wilson had set in 16-game seasons for completion rate. He started all 17 games Seattle played during the regular season and set a franchise record with 4,282 yards passing.