Smith nears deal with Seattle Seahawks

Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith reported Friday on SiriusXM NFL Radio that talks with the Seattle Seahawks are ongoing and that the prospects of both sides reaching a deal “look very good.”

Geno Smith, 32, will be an unrestricted free agent in March.

“We’ve had conversations and we’re in the process of working all that out right now,” Geno Smith said from the Pro Bowl Games in Las Vegas in an interview that aired Friday afternoon. “It’s looking pretty good. We think we can get some things done, but obviously it takes time. This is the process I hate about the NFL because I just want to play soccer, but it’s also a business, so we have to take care of business and then we’ll get back to soccer.”

Geno Smith was one of the biggest surprises of the 2022 NFL season. A backup for most of the past seven years, he earned the Seahawks’ starting job after the Russell Wilson trade and delivered a Pro Bowl season, leading the league in pass complete percentage, finishing sixth in Total QBR and breaking several franchise marks in a season for Wilson.

The one-year contract he signed last April included a base value of $3.5 million. Smith earned another $3.5 million in incentives.

Coach Pete Carroll agreed several times that he hopes the Seahawks can retain Gene Smith, though he stopped short of saying it would happen, despite Seattle securing the outcome through the franchise tag in the absence of a multiyear contract. More recently, Seahawks general manager John Schneider told Seattle sports radio 93.3 KJR-FM that he believes they will sign Smith.

Geno Smith’s contract also came up during his appearance on The Pivot Podcast, which was posted on YouTube on Friday. Smith declined to specify the size of the contract he is seeking, but said he would “love to be in Seattle” and expressed confidence that he will return.

“I love Seattle,” Geno Smith acknowledged. “We have a great relationship and I think we’ll work things out. When it comes to contracts, I think every player just wants to be paid what he’s worth. And it’s funny because a great friend of mine tells me that no matter what figure they write, it’s never going to be his value because his value is not in money, it’s not in monetary things; he just wants to be respected. His contract just wants to say: we respect you, we understand what you bring, we understand the caliber of player you are and we appreciate you. That’s all.”