Geno Smith should be starting for the Seahawks at quarterback Week 1 next season. That’s what former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Marcus Spears thinks, in any case.
Spears says Seattle should stick with Smith as their long-term starter unless they’re blown away by one of the QBs in the 2023 NFL draft class. Watch.
"I think they should re-sign and get to a long term deal with Geno. I don't think last year was a fluke."
— @mspears96 on the Seahawks plan at QB 💪 pic.twitter.com/Ocn1D5SBRA
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 21, 2023
Spears is right, but the devil is in the details.
We agree that Smith should be the starter for now, but does that mean they should pass on a strong quarterback class? Also, for how much and for how long should Geno be inked in as the Seahawks’ QB1?
The absolute basement for the ongoing contract talks is the value for the franchise tag – which is pegged at a little under $32.5 million for quarterbacks this year. Both parties stand to benefit from avoiding that, though. For one thing, tagging Smith would be terrible for Seattle’s cap situation this year. At the moment they only have around $31 million in total cap space for the season, so they couldn’t afford to tag Smith and also sign their rookie class without making some serious cuts.
Smith can also make a lot more guaranteed money (which is all that really matters to players) if he comes to a longer-term deal with the Seahawks. His signing bonus alone is likely to be at least $50 million. As far as annual average goes, Smith’s fair market value is somewhere in the $40 million per season range. If Seattle’s won’t go there number isn’t too far from that, both sides should be able to work something out relatively soon.
For now, both sides say that the negotiations are going well.
