Geno Smith dazzled the NFL world this season with the Seattle Seahawks. On a team nobody expected to be good, Smith helped lead the team to a surprising playoff appearance after a brilliant season under center. Smith posted career-highs in passing yards, completion% (which he led the NFL in), touchdowns, and yards per attempt, among others.
He pieced together a great season, so it comes as no surprise that his team still wants him around. Seahawks general manager John Schneider publicly commented on the talks between the Seahawks and Smith.
Schneider appeared on 710 AM Sports Seattle earlier this week. Schneider joined Wyman and Bob and spoke on the team’s prospects when it comes to keeping Smith in tow:
As you might expect, quarterback Geno Smith was an important topic on the show. Smith is coming off a surprising Pro Bowl season that won him NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors in his first chance to be a full-time starter since 2014, but he’s set to be a free agent and is in line for a big payday whether that’s from the Seahawks (including as a franchise tag candidate) or another team.
Where do things currently stand between Seattle and Smith?
“Good talks so far,” Schneider said. “We’re in it. We’re just trying to figure out what’s best, and we’ll do what’s right.”
“Obviously, Dave has a great relationship with Drew and Geno,” he said. “Shoot, he did a great job working with Geno (and) staying after practice with Drew… Those guys would work their tails off for a good hour, hour and a half after practice. They’d be out there in the dark throwing the ball, working on footwork and ball carriage and everything. … (But) free agency doesn’t start until the middle of March so there’s a huge period here where we have time to work through things.”
So it doesn’t sound like the Seahawks are currently sweating the Geno Smith sweepstakes out. They seem extremely confident that they’ll bring him back and it would probably behoove them too. With uncertainty under center for division rival San Francisco, getting a step above them in any category would be enticing. Especially at the most important position in the sport.
Smith is still just 32 so he still has a lot of ball game left in him most likely. He will attract a number of suitors, most likely, but Seattle seems confident in doing everything it can to keep him up in the Pacific Northwest.
