Seahawks QB Geno Smith Labeled Overpaid QB: ‘He’s a Top-End Backup’

Getty Seahawks QB Geno Smith is being labeled an "overpaid" quarterback.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is considered an “overpaid” quarterback by at least one observer.

As Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon writes, he considers the veteran quarterback to be one of the overpaid passers on his list, arguing that Smith’s actual average annual value is $12 million per season.

“The 33-year-old has put up one good season out of 10, and it wasn’t in 2023,” writes Gagnon. “He’s a top-end backup at best.”

Geno Smith Ranks 17th Among Highest-Paid QB’s

Smith is currently earning $25 million per year after signing a three-year, $75 million contract prior to last season. The 33-year-old quarterback actually ranks just 17th among all players at his position in terms of annual average, behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ Baker Mayfield at $33.3 million and ahead of the Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love at $13.5 million per season.

While it’s easy to pick on Smith considering he was never a consistent starter prior to the 2022 season, you can’t deny he’s been one of the better quarterbacks over the past two seasons. Even when acknowledging his decline in 2023 compared to his 2022 season, Smith still ranked among the top half of starting quarterbacks in the league last year.

Smith ranked 13th in completions and 16th in passing yards last season despite missing two games. He also ranked 11th in interception percentage and 18th in passer rating. He also went 8-7 as a starter and the Seahawks would have likely made the playoffs had he not missed two games due to injury. Seattle missed last year’s playoffs — after making it in 2022 — due to losing out on the wild card tiebreaker with the Packers.

The argument that Smith’s actual value is $12 million per year holds little merit. Gagnon explains his value system is based upon multiple factors, including age, career stats, trajectory, etc.

“Looking primarily at career stats, age, trajectory and leaguewide benchmarks, here’s a rundown of the overpaid, the underpaid and everything in between,” says Gagnon.

Why Geno Smith Is Not an ‘Overpaid’ QB

Obviously, the career stats and age argument are not in Smith’s favor due to him going eight years between serving as a starter. Furthermore, Smith will be 34 years old during the 2024 season. There’s actually only four starting quarterbacks who are older than Smith entering next season.

However, his actual production over the past couple of years — Smith has actually been a Pro Bowler over the past two seasons and won the Comeback Player of the Year award — should mean that Smith is worth more than $12 million per year.

For perspective, Gardner Minshew is earning $12.5 million per year with the Las Vegas Raiders and has never led a team to the playoffs. Furthermore, Minshew has never ranked within the top 10 of a major passing category in a single season. His career high for touchdowns in a single season is 21.

In Smith’s case, he led the league with a 69.8% completion rate in 2022 and led the NFL in game-winning drives (five) last season. That’s not even mentioning his 30 touchdown passes in 2022 ranked fourth and his passer rating (100.9) ranked fifth.

It’s true that Smith may be entering his final season as the Seahawks’ starter. With a new regime led by first-year head coach Mike Macdonald and former Washington Commanders starter Sam Howell as the backup, Smith may not even be the Seahawks’ starter entering the 2025 season.

However, the point still stands that Smith is earning about what he should be making as a middle-of-the road starter.