Jets 'Exploring' Reunion with Geno Smith; Seahawks Under Pressure?

The Seattle Seahawks will need to make their move on Geno Smith before another team, namely his former New York Jets squad, comes swooping in.

Even before the Seattle Seahawks' 2022 season ended with a surprising run to the playoffs, the general thought has been that, one way or another, Geno Smith would be the starting quarterback for at least one more season.

It certainly helps ease speculation when both he and the front office have expressed eagerness to get a new deal worked out.

But while Smith's story has taken an inspiring turn over the past year, it seems that his past is set to come knocking at his door, and for good reason.

The New York Jets, the team that drafted Smith in 2013, are reportedly "exploring" Smith along with other options to be their future answer at quarterback, per reports from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

Breer says that the Jets, who recently hosted former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr for a meeting, are not set on a quarterback for next season and could go a number of different directions. Per the report, the team is looking at the possibility of Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Tannehill, Daniel Jones, Smith and others.

"It seems clear that Rodgers (under the right circumstances) would be their first choice, but this isn’t an Aaron-or-bust situation," Breer said of the Jets. "They’re exploring everything, from Rodgers and Carr, to Ryan Tannehill and Jimmy Garoppolo, to even the idea of bringing Geno Smith back or luring Daniel Jones from across town. Part of it, as I see it, lies in how the quarterback market shakes out." 

While it's no surprise that other teams could be showing interest in Smith after the best season of his career, it's typical Broadway drama that his former team could come calling after seeing what they could've had.

And it's hard to blame the Jets, who are a few pieces away from being a perennial playoff team. Adding Smith could give them the missing piece if he's able to come close to replicating what he did this past season.

In 2022, Smith earned his first-ever Pro Bowl nod and set Seattle single-season franchise records in passing yards (4,282), completions (399), completion percentage (69.8) and passing attempts (572) - all during a season where the Seahawks were supposed to be rebuilding.

Smith could be placed on the franchise tag by the Seahawks or earn some big-time money. Up to this point, both possibilities have only seemed to include the Seahawks, but it looks like we can enter the Jets into the conversation.

Swiping Smith away from the Seahawks would be the final straw after a flurry of recent Jets-on-Seahawks crime, as New York's Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson both topped Seattle rookies Tariq Woolen and Kenneth Walker III in their respective Rookie of the Year races.

But as Smith has said himself ...

"It's always a business first."

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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