Geno Smith wanted to get paid by the Seattle Seahawks. He wanted at least $40 million a season, it seems, but he was a quarterback in his mid-30s, and Seattle wasn't sold on him being the long-term QB1. This is evident because as soon as Smith requested a trade this offseason, Seattle dealt him to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Smith should have been happy to go to Vegas, too. He was a proponent of former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who took over as head coach for Las Vegas this offseason. Smith trusts the coach, and the coach trusts Smith. Smith might struggle without a trio of receivers, including DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Still, for Smith to be truly happy, he wanted the money that Seattle would never give him. The Raiders, in a desperate need for a quarterback for several years, were happy to add Smith in a trade, but with the assumption they would pay him, too.
Former Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith finally gets his money from the Raiders
On Thursday, the NFL announced that Las Vegas did just that. Smith will sign an extension for two years past 2025 that will pay him a max of $85.5 million. The trick is that $66.5 million. In other words, what Smith will make per season with his guarantee alone is more than the Seahawks will pay Sam Darnold if Darnold sticks around for three years.
Maybe Darnold flames out with the Seahawks and has to be released after 2025. This would mean Seattle has to start over at quarterback. The team would have had to do that anyway, as general manager John Schneider was rightfully never going to pay Smith what the Raiders did.
Smith was not a bad quarterback overall, but in 2024, he made far too many critical errors in the red zone. His Week 9 performance against the Los Angeles Rams cost Seattle the game, and that might have been the reason Seattle did not make the playoffs either. Smith was good enough to make the Seahawks competitive but not good enough to reach a high level of success.
Again, maybe Darnold is not good with Seattle, but the defense might be enough to get the Seahawks to the postseason. Had Smith not been traded and Seattle saved $25 million in the move, perhaps the team would not have been able to add a player such as edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. Lawrence could help elevate the defense from good to great. Seattle could be a dangerous team.
With Geno Smith hamstringing the team's cap room, the Seahawks would likely have never been much more than mediocre. The Las Vegas Raiders might be about to learn that lesson, too.