Brady HendersonESPN5 minutes read
Schefter: Seahawks and Geno Smith are ‘a marriage made for each other’
Adam Schefter explains why Geno Smith was always expected to return to Seattle and what his signing means to the rest of the quarterback market.
SEATTLE — If Geno Smith has a strong enough encore to his season as comeback player of the year, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback can make well above the base $25 million per year of his three-year, $75 million contract.
If not, it could be a one-year deal for $27.3 million.
Those are the two biggest takeaways after the full details came out, showing plenty of realistic upside potential for Smith and just as much flexibility for the Seahawks thanks to his $10.1 million cap for 2023 and no fully guaranteed money through the first trade year out. Indeed, Smith is “playing a little bit… on himself,” as coach Pete Carroll put it last week.
The team-friendly structure of his contract suggests the Seahawks could still issue an early pick for a quarterback. And while nothing about Smith’s game looked untenable during his 2022 Pro Bowl season, Seattle could potentially pull away from him next year if he fell behind.
The first reports, which Smith signed for $105 million, included the $30 million in extra money he can make over the $75 million baseline. Smith receives total guarantees of $40 million, of which $27.3 million is fully guaranteed at signing. This is done via a $26.1 million signing bonus and a $1.2 million 2023 base salary guaranteed immediately for skills, injuries and cap. A 2024 base salary of $12.7 million, guaranteed for injuries at the time of signing, makes up the remainder of the $40 million.
While this is the standard guarantee structure for big-money Seahawks contracts, the escalating roster bonuses in Smith’s deal are extremely rare, if not unique.
Smith’s roster bonuses are worth $9.6 million in 2024 and $10 million in 2025. Each is due on the fifth day of each league year beginning with free agency beginning in mid-March, provided Smith is on Seattle’s roster that day. Each roster bonus can increase by up to $15 million based on the previous season’s performance escalators, which make up the additional $30 million available in the deal.
Smith can increase his roster bonus for the following year by $2 million for each of these categories in which he meets or exceeds his 2022 production: passing yards (4,282), touchdown passes (30), completion rate (69.755%), and Passer rating ( 100,874). Another $2 million is available if Seattle makes the playoffs or wins at least 10 regular-season games, provided Smith plays at least 80% of offensive snaps. If Smith meets all five benchmarks and the Seahawks make the Super Bowl, his following season’s roster bonus will add an additional $5 million.
These are distinct from incentive bonuses like the $3.5 million Smith earned from his one-year contract last season. That’s an important difference, because while Smith was sure he’d get that money the moment he hit the benchmarks for those incentives, he would have to stay on Seattle’s list past his bonus expiration date to get off all the escalators benefit he hits 2023 and ’24.
“I just believe in my abilities,” Smith said last week when asked why he likes to bet on himself with such a contract structure. “I think with the guys around me, with the coaches that we have… I think the future is very bright for us. So with the contract and the incentives, it’s just a way for either party to make it work. It gives the team room and space to do what they need to do, but it also gives me an opportunity to be one of the top 10 paid quarterbacks, which is something I believe I am .
“So with all of those things, I think it worked out pretty well.”
Here’s the yearly breakdown of Smith’s deal:
2023
According to Spotrac.com, Smith’s cap number ranks him 19th among quarterbacks for 2023. It is made up of the prorated amount of his $26.1 million signing bonus ($8.7 million across all three seasons), his $1.2 million base salary and $200,000 training bonus. The Seahawks don’t typically include training bonuses in their contracts, but this one does.
2024
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Base Salary: $12.7 million (guaranteed for signing injuries)
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Roster Bonus: $9.6 million (can escalate up to $24.6 million)
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Training bonus: $200,000
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cap number: $31.2 million
Smith’s base salary will be fully guaranteed (i.e., for skills and caps and injuries) on the fifth day of the league year 2024 waiver period — six days after the Super Bowl — assuming he’s still on her list at the time. Moving him by then would cost $17.4 million in dead money (which Seattle could spread over two seasons) while saving at least $13.8 million from the 2024 cap. For now, the $31.2 million cap only includes the $9.6 million roster bonus. It would increase based on the achievement escalators Smith achieves in 2023, assuming he is still on the roster on day five of the 2024 league year.
2025
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Base Salary: $14.8 million
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Roster Bonus: $10 million (can escalate up to $25 million)
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Training bonus: $200,000
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cap number: $33.7 million
Again, Smith’s cap number would increase based on any achievement escalators he achieves in 2024 while still on the roster through day five of the 2025 league year. If the Seahawks pulled away from him between the end of the 2024 season and that mid-March date, they would save at least $25 million in cash and space while paying an $8.7 million death penalty fee as the remaining portion of his inaugural bonus.
