Seattle Seahawks Draft: The chess game begins at NFL Draft Combine

Seahawks putting indirect pressure on Geno Smith

An important date to keep in mind is March 7th. That is the last day Seattle would be able to franchise tag QB Geno Smith. While it seems as if Seattle is on the right track to re-signing him, there is always the possibility he ends up somewhere else. Especially, if the Seahawks were to select a quarterback in the draft.

Given the fact that drills will be underway this week, the Seattle Seahawks might not have that much time to work something out with Geno Smith. When the combine ends on Sunday, the Seahawks will have 2 more days to decide on whether or not they want to franchise tag Geno if they feel they are at a stalemate in negotiations, or if they feel working out a deal is going to take more time.

However, there is a possibility they walk away from the combine absolutely in love with a quarterback. Or, maybe that is something they want Geno Smith to believe amidst negotiations. Certainly, the Seahawks could do both; resign Geno Smith and select a quarterback at pick 5. That way, whoever they select, can come in and learn under Geno. A route we saw Kansas City take with Patrick Mahomes. In fact, that was something John Schneider alluded to at his press conference at the Combine.

But, this could just be bait for other teams as alluded to in the previous slide. We do not know much about the Geno negotiations. How many years he’s looking for, what the maximum Seattle is willing to give him, or whether or not he’s looking to help the team out in taking less money? My guess would be knowing the franchise tag is $32M, Geno and his team are probably starting negotiations around $38-40M/per year.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Seattle has roughly $24M in cap space after their recent re-signs. Knowing that, the Seahawks may not be that open to giving Geno Smith the franchise tag. I’m sure they would prefer to work out a long-term deal so they can manipulate the money in year-1 and create avenues for spending on other positions.

That is another facet they could use in negotiations. Drafting a rookie QB in round-1 would allow Seattle to save the $30+ million they would give Geno and build their roster around a young quarterback on a cheap deal. A philosophy that helped Seattle win its first Super Bowl in franchise history. Knowing the history of John and his involvement in the quarterbacks year in and year out, it is a legitimate threat and could add pressure to Geno and his camp.