It’s officially the start of free agency and the Seattle Seahawks are already ahead of the game by taking care of their biggest in-house free agent: Geno Smith. The Seahawks signed him to an incredibly team-friendly extension that will allow the team flexibility but also give Smith incredible opportunities to maximize his wealth.
On Monday, a story from SI’s Albert Breer chronicled the journey Seahawks general manager John Schneider took to realizing Smith was the real deal for them. Ultimately, Seattle was impressed by his stretch of play in 2021, the victory over Denver in Week 1, and his stellar season in 2022.
However, one nugget is certainly sticking out. When discussing the actual contract negotiations, Schneider wasn’t just praising Smith’s agent. In his remarks it also appeared to be a bit of a shot at Russell Wilson’s agent Mark Rodgers.
Schneider with a pretty frank quote here about working with Smith's agent, Chafie Fields: https://t.co/FB0ww38v95 pic.twitter.com/UkV9hv2Sgk
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) March 13, 2023
When Schneider says “It was very collaborative. It was not in the media. We didn’t have to worry about Chafie (Fields) going to the media to get his point across” that is a direct reference to Rodgers and the constant drama surrounding Wilson in the last few years.
Every contract negotiation with Wilson felt tense. Aside from setting arbitrary deadlines for Seattle to come to terms with an extension, rumors about Wilson’s future were constantly in the media every offseason.
Remember when Colin Cowherd believed Wilson would play for the New York Giants? Perhaps the greatest example was Adam Schefter’s tweet about how Wilson doesn’t want to be traded… but if he were to be traded these are the teams he would play for.
Eventually, it seems Rodgers’ antics got Wilson and Schneider what they both wanted. Wilson got another massive contract on a team he wanted to play for, and Schneider got an offseason without constant drama. While Schneider is clearly relieved, I’m sure the 12th Man is right there with him.
