Geno Smith nearly led the Seattle Seahawks to the playoffs this season going 10-7 and narrowly missing out on winning the NFC West. The team lost out on tie-breakers to the Los Angeles Rams. Despite wrapping up the season earlier than hoped, Smith had a good season personally and made himself $6 million richer in Week 18 thanks to incentives in his contract.

“Smith was 20-of-27 for 233 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-25 win that also helps Smith out individually,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. “By winning 10 games, throwing for more than 4,282 yards and completing more than 69.755 percent of his passes, Smith earned three separate $2 million contract escalators. They will be tacked onto the $10 million roster bonus due early in the 2025 league year, although Smith said the contract was not on the forefront of his mind.”

While Geno Smith may not be thinking about his contract, the Seahawks certainly are. The 11-year NFL vet will turn 35 in October and is under contract for one more season. Currently, his deal will count toward a $44.5 million cap hit next season with $13.5 million in dead cap. That means cutting him will save the team $31 million.

That said, it would also leave the Seahawks without a starting QB for the 2025 campaign. Sam Howell is under contract for one more season and Jaren Hall will be a free agent this offseason.

Should the Seahawks stick with Geno Smith?

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) leaves the field following the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Geno Smith contract situation will be a major decision the Seahawks must make this offseason. As good as the journeyman has been replacing Russel Wilson, it seems as though 10 wins and being a borderline playoff team is the ceiling with Smith. To take the next step, the franchise must upgrade at the most important position in pro football.

While the team probably doesn't want to give Smith an extension heading into his 35th year, they should be able to restructure the deal to drastically reduce that $44.5 million cap. Even if they don't, that number isn't all that bad for a starting NFL QB these days.

The biggest problem the Seahawks face is, what's next?

Picking 18th in the 2025 NFL Draft, Seattle is not in the running for a top-end QB prospect unless they make a massive trade. That means there are two options for the future.

One option is to draft a young quarterback in the later rounds and hope he overperforms his draft spot to become a starting signal-caller. This worked pretty well for the franchise 13 years ago when they took Wilson in the third round and he became a Super Bowl champ.

The other option is to bring in a failed former high-end prospect and hope they develop into a legit QB with the right coaching and opportunity. This avenue has also come to fruition for several teams recently, most notably with Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings, Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Smith and the Seahawks before that.

If this is the play, Kenny Pickett, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones are all names to investigate.