Geno Smith details events that led to Seahawks trading him to Raiders

When the details of Geno Smith’s contract with the Raiders were revealed last week it raised a question — why couldn’t he have agreed to the same deal in Seattle?

As reported by multiple sources, Smith signed a two-year extension with the Raiders for the 2026 and 2027 seasons featuring a base value of $75 million with incentives that could take it to $85.5 million. Or, an average of $37.5 million in base value and just over $42 million if he hits incentives.

That’s on top of the $31 million in salary he is due in 2025 on the final season of the deal he signed with the Seahawks in 2023.

That’s similar from what a source told The Times — that the Seahawks offered Smith a two-year extension that could have been worth up to $40-45 million per year.

Seahawks general manager John Schneider said the team never got a response from Smith’s side, a breakdown in talks that led to them to trading Smith on March 7 to Las Vegas for a 2025 third-round pick.

In his first comments since the deal, Smith was quoted in a story published Monday morning on SI.com as saying that his desire to leave to Seattle was about more than money.

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In the story, Smith indicates a desire to reunite with his former coach Pete Carroll and feeling as if he wasn’t part of the Seahawks’ future led to the trade.

Smith cited the lure of playing with Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who was the OC last year at Ohio State where Smith’s cousin, Jeremiah Smith, is a star receiver, and that Tom Brady is part of Vegas’ ownership group.

Smith says he got the idea during a meeting with Schneider last summer that the team wanted to “lean into the young core” it has built the past few seasons, especially in light of firing Carroll following the 2023 season and hiring Mike Macdonald as his replacement.

That left Smith to wonder if the team considered him as part of the future.

“Just based on that conversation, I kind of knew the direction the team was going,” Smith said, in an interview SI.com said was Friday morning.

Smith confirmed last season that he approached the team last summer about an extension, which he also hoped would assure a commitment to him as the team’s long-term starter.

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The Seahawks told Smith they would not negotiate then, sticking to their precedent of not giving extensions to players with more than a year remaining on their contracts.

Smith said he went into the 2024 season with questions about his future.

“Obviously, they have young guys in the building that they want to step up and be leaders, and they got a new head coach last year,” Smith said. “And Mike was good for us, and I really enjoyed being with him for that season. But again, man, when you’re talking about business, and you’re talking about a quarterback who wants not only to get paid — every player wants to get paid — but to be respected, that’s the most important thing. It’s the respect factor.

“And I just felt like there was a disconnect there.”

The Seahawks appeared to commit to Smith publicly after the 2025 season with Schneider and Macdonald stating several times they anticipated he would be their starter.

Schneider and Smith’s representatives met at the combine and the Seahawks gave an offer to Smith the first week of March.

Smith’s side never gave a counter offer. As Schneider said later “it became apparent that we weren’t going to be able to get to a deal done. Yeah, it wasn’t a very long negotiation.”

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The SI.com story calls the Seahawks’ proposal “a solid contract offer” — it would have represented a significant raise from the $25 million average of his current deal.

The story notes it was “well shy” of what Smith wanted on a per-year basis while not saying what Smith wanted. Smith noted the proposal gave the Seahawks “escape hatches” to get out of the deal.

The story says a key for Smith is that the Raiders fully guaranteed Smith’s $18.5 million for the 2026 season, in his view showing that they don’t view him as a one-year stop gap.

That amount is part of a $58.5 million fully guaranteed at signing, which includes his 2025 salary.

How much the Seahawks offered Smith in full guarantees has not been reported, though ESPN reported he would have gotten $40 million in year one. That’s the same as Smith is guaranteed to get in 2025 from the Raiders.

As noted by Pro Football Talk, Smith’s Raiders’ deal is written in a manner that Las Vegas could get out of it after one year.

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Wrote PFT: “Since he presumably wouldn’t play in 2026 for total compensation of $18.5 million, the Raiders could ultimately owe him nothing beyond the $40 million he’ll make in 2025.”

Smith’s contract may be more realistically viewed as a two-year deal with the Raiders as it includes a non-guaranteed $39.5 million in 2027, indicating the two sides will have to work out a new deal following the 2026 season — or move on from each other.

That sounds like something Smith and the Seahawks could have worked out.

Smith was likely more amenable to accept that deal with the Raiders to play again with Carroll. That became an option when Carroll was hired by the Raiders on Jan. 24.

The Raiders initially pursued Matthew Stafford before he agreed on a reworked deal with the Rams in late February.

That Smith knew at that point the Raiders could be highly motivated to get him surely played into how his side played hardball with the Seahawks’ offer.

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The Seahawks knew at that point that signing Sam Darnold as a free agent to replace Smith was a realistic option. They signed Darnold to a three-year contract

Smith confirmed what Carroll said at last week’s league meetings that the two stayed in contact throughout the 2024 season when Carroll was still holding an advisory role with the Seahawks.

“I would call him whenever I got frustrated,” Smith said. “He talked me through things, and he still coached me. And I think that’s what makes him such a special man, is that he was coaching me even when he wasn’t my head coach. A lot of the things that he was telling me, a lot of conversations we had really kept me steady throughout the season, and kept my head on straight.”

Smith referenced the way the 2024 season unfolded as another reason he had reason to consider if he was still part of the Seahawks’ long-term future.

Smith threw 15 interceptions after throwing a combined 20 his first two years as the starter, working with new coordinator Ryan Grubb. Grubb was fired the day after the season and replaced by Klint Kubiak, meaning Smith would be learning another new offense in 2025.

“It was very frustrating last year, because as a team, we set goals for ourselves, and we didn’t achieve those goals,” he said. “And being a part of the team, being a quarterback, I take that right on my shoulders. And I feel like that’s my responsibility to make sure that stuff happens. And we weren’t able to reach our goals, weren’t able to get to the playoffs.

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“… And then, obviously, not having real security there, not feeling like you’re really a part of the future plans. There’s a lot to think about.”

Monday, Smith finally held an introductory news conference in Las Vegas.

Asked about how things ended in Seattle, Smith said: “It was just business and that’s the way things work in the NFL. There are no hard feelings with anyone there. I have a lot of love for everybody there really.”

Report: Seahawks hosting Griffin

The Seahawks’ attempts to flesh out the depth at cornerback have turned to a familiar name — Shaquill Griffin, a third-round pick in 2017 who played four seasons with the Seahawks. Fox Sports reported Monday morning that Griffin was scheduled to visit.

Griffin, who turns 30 on July 20, played as a reserve and situational cornerback with the Vikings last season, appearing in all 17 games with three starts and playing 572 snaps. He had two interceptions, including one that helped seal a win against Arizona, and six pass defenses.

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