Mike Macdonald wants Geno Smith back in 2025

Quarterback Geno Smith completed his third season as Seattle’s starting quarterback. Head coach Mike Macdonald is hoping for at least fourth.

“I want Geno to be here,” Macdonald told reporters Monday. “I think he is a real player. The first thing he always comes back to is what’s best for the team. I feel Geno is the best for the team right now. I will be involved in it, ultimately it is not my decision. That’s the Seahawks’ decision. But Geno knows how we feel about him and we certainly love him as our starting quarterback.”

The decision will ultimately be made by GM John Schneider, who had final say on the roster last year following the departure of coach Pete Carroll.

Smith signed a three-year, $75 million contract after the 2022 season. The deal was structured to give the team the option to terminate him after each of the first two seasons. He is now entering the final year of his contract, with a $16 million bonus that expires on March 16 and a base salary of $14.8 million. A $200,000 training bonus brings the total package to $31 million.

The tight deadline forces the Seahawks to decide whether to activate the third-year pick sooner rather than later. The bigger question is whether he will get an extension and a raise.

Smith wanted a new contract after the 2023 season, but that didn’t happen.

Regardless, Macdonald’s position on his quarterback is clear. He wants Smith back.

“We’ve done a lot of really good things, and one of those things is Geno’s productivity, and that’s something I’m looking forward to building on,” Macdonald said. “I thought he had a really good year, we talked yesterday and I felt like he was proud of the things we did, but he felt we could have done a better job as an offense and as a team and we could have put ourselves in a position to go to tournament to go for this thing.”

One factor will be the new offensive coordinator. Will they hire someone ready to get the most out of Smith, or will the new offensive line coach have a system that Smith will have to adjust to?

“Anytime you bring anybody into a coaching position, you want to understand what their vision is based on the players we have and how they would deploy everything,” Macdonald said. “It will definitely be a topic of conversation.”

Smith, 34, made it clear he has more than a few years left in him. The Seahawks could squat in the final year of the deal and make a decision in 2026, or they could give him security beyond 2025 with a long-term deal.

The challenge will be attaching the right value. The market peaked at $60 million. Where does Smith fall on that scale?

In 2024, Smith threw for 4,320 yards (good for fourth in the league) and 21 touchdowns. He had 15 interceptions and a 93.2 passer rating.

For any team evaluating whether to keep their current quarterback, there is a very important question. If we move on, who will replace him?