With the offseason officially underway, many feel the number 1 task for the Seattle Seahawks is retaining QB Geno Smith. After an unprecedented 2022 regular season, Smith is set to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Seattle has been adamant about re-signing Geno prior to the start of free agency. The news coming from last week of Dave Canales being hired as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has some concern that Geno could follow in his footsteps. While negotiations are reportedly underway between Seattle and Geno Smith, one way in which they can prevent him from following Canales to Tampa Bay, or anywhere else for that matter, would be the franchise tag.
On Tuesday, February 21, the window officially opened for clubs to hit their unrestricted free agents with either the franchise or transition tag. If a team were to use the franchise tag, they have the option between a non-exclusive and an exclusive franchise tag. The difference in tags is explained below:
Why the Seattle Seahawks should franchise tag Geno Smith
- Non-exclusive franchise tag: One-year tender of the average of top-five salaries at the player’s position over the last 5 years or 120 percent of their previous salary, whichever is higher. Said player can still negotiate with other teams. The incumbent team has the right to match any offer to said player or receive two 1st-round draft picks as compensation if said player signed elsewhere.
- Exclusive franchise tag: One-year tender of the average top-five salaries at players’ position over the current year or 120 percent of their previous salary, whichever is higher. In this case, the incumbent team retains the sole right to negotiate with said player.
- Transition tag: One-year tender of the average top-ten salaries at a player’s position. Said player can negotiate with other teams. The Incumbent has the right to first refusal of any offer said player receives from another club. If said player signs elsewhere, there is no draft compensation.
The deadline to apply one of these tags is March 7. The right way to go about this would be to apply the non-exclusive franchise tag on Geno Smith. The salary designed for the franchise tag at the quarterback position is $32.416M. Really, there are two main reasons why.
Salary flexibility for Seahawks in negotiation
I know reading salary flexibility seems contradicting as franchise tagging Geno Smith would deduct $32M from Seattle’s available $51M heading into the offseason. But, it’s not meant to carry that connotation.
Rather, it gives the Seahawks flexibility to work something out with Geno Smith long-term. If the non-exclusive franchise tag were given to Geno Smith, Seattle would have until July 15th to work something out. One advantage of that, is it grants Seattle more time to see what happens in the quarterback market.
Update: #Giants QB Daniel Jones wants more than New York has offered him. Possibly as much as $45 million per year, or more. A source tells Mike Florio.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 20, 2023
Jones has recently switched agents, from CAA to Athletes First. pic.twitter.com/HGhG3B1V2h
By franchising Geno Smith and having about 4 months to either finalize a long-term deal, retain him at $32M or decline to match another team’s offer and lose him, the Seahawks can see what comps get paid. One of them being Daniel Jones. If he gets $45M/per year, Seattle should cross their fingers and pray another team doesn’t offer that to Geno. If so, good riddance Geno, even though I love you.
Other quarterbacks to keep in mind are Derek Carr and Jimmy Graoppolo. Now, Geno certainly had a better year than all three of those aforementioned, but if one of them were to sign a long-term deal, it would at least give the Seahawks a starting point in negotiations.
Based on his production in 2022, Geno Smith is going to want to get paid as a top-10 quarterback. Which, was the level of play he performed at. But, one good year doesn’t erase the past. I always felt Geno and the Seahawks should help each other in working out a 3-year, $95 million dollar deal.
Nonetheless, the flexibility here comes from Seattle having the ability to see what the market is and act accordingly. As supposed to not tagging Geno Smith and potentially letting him walk away for nothing or pinning themselves in a corner and paying Geno top-notch out of desperation.
Draft compensation for Seahawks
The other thing to keep in mind with the non-exclusive franchise tag is that if Geno Smith were offered a deal from another team and Seattle declined, they would be given two 1st-round draft picks. Just that possibility alone is why the Seahawks should make the wise business decision and apply the tag on Smith.
Ironically, the approach that Philadelphia took to get to the Super Bowl is similar to what Seattle did in 2013 when they won the Super Bowl. They had a quarterback on a rookie contract, which allowed them to funnel money into other positions of need. Whether it was through trade or free agency, the Seahawks put together one of the best rosters in the entire NFL just like the Eagles did.
I'll say this: Seahawk fans should be confident in John Schneider's ability to evaluate quarterbacks.
— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) March 17, 2022
He really liked Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. That's why the comments on Lock shouldn't be completely disregarded.
If you remember, the beginning of the end for Russell Wilson and Seattle was when GM John Schneider had interest in drafting Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft. Followed by a serious interest in taking Josh Allen in 2018. The philosophy of having an adequate enough quarterback surrounded by great talent will help elevate them into being a championship-caliber team. In all fairness, Russell Wilson was more than adequate during his rookie contract and thereafter, for a long period of time.
But, when a large portion of your salary cap is going to one player, you are putting an immense amount of pressure on their shoulders to overcome the inability of other positions due to lack of cap space. Now that the salary cap is continuously rising, Seattle would be able to make moves even with Geno Smith making roughly $30M/per year.
Another benefit of this non-exclusive franchise tag is that Seattle would be adding more draft capital if Smith were to sign elsewhere. Knowing that Schneider drafted Russell Wilson and wanted both Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen (2 of the top 4 QBs in the NFL), we can trust his eye for talent. More importantly, by receiving two 1st-round draft picks, the Seahawks wouldn’t have to alter their draft plans in order to replace Geno Smith.