4 Seahawks who will be playing for their future jobs in Week 18

Seahawks need to make sure Geno Smith is worth his 2024 pay hike

Unlike the previous two players, this won't be about Geno Smith's poor play. Smith hasn't been as good as he was in 2022, but he also hasn't been as terrible as many seem to want to believe. Smith's interception percentage of 1.9 is the same as last year and is a very good number. The quarterbacks who have worse interception percentages this year? The list includes Brock Purdy, Tue Tagovailoa, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Trevor Lawrence.

Smith currently sits 15th in passer rating so barely into the top half of the league but still better than 17 other quarterback situations in the NFL. His overall QBR is 12th, though. Smith is tied for league-lead in game-winning drives with 4. I am not saying Geno Smith is a top-five quarterback or a perfect QB, but the majority of the league has a worse quarterback situation than do the Seahawks.

The question about Smith, though, is about the future. My guess is that Seattle has Smith as QB1 in Week 1 of 2024. The team has a lot of other needs in the 2024 NFL Draft such as defensive line, edge rusher, safety, and linebacker. If anyone points to this year and says, "Geno Smith is the problem and the team will be better in 2024 without him," that person probably just doesn't think Smith can do much right.

But for the future of the team, say five years down the road, should Seattle take a quarterback in the first round in 2024 and move on from Smith? We can assume the defense won't be good again in 2024 unless there are coaching changes so 12s shouldn't expect a Super Bowl run soon. Releasing Smith would save $13.8 million. Still, if Smith has a terrible Week 18, the team might make a change at QB this offseason.