Seahawks QB Geno Smith Talks Contract, Replacing Russell Wilson & 'Being Written Off'

It is compelling that Geno Smith's "chip on his shoulder'' isn't just about having been "written off,'' as he puts it, but also about trying to justify his Seahawks bosses' faith in him in a post-Russell Wilson time.

The "Russell Wilson Thing'' will probably never go away.

And Geno Smith seems fine with that.

“I really wanted to prove those guys right, coach (Pete) Carroll, (GM) John Schneider, just how much faith they showed in me obviously trading away Russell Wilson,” Smith told SiriusXM NFL Radio (hat-tip PFT). “It had nothing to do with me, but just trading away the franchise cornerstone for 10 years ...''

Smith is wise, and fair, to acknowledge all the positives of what Wilson accomplished in Seattle before he engineered his way out in a blockbuster 2022 trade that landed him in Denver. Wise and fair because in some ways, what he's about to try to do is replicate some of that success, and build on it.

From one "franchise cornerstone'' to the next?

Smith, 32, isn't going to do this for another decade. But as he has entered contract negotiations with the club, it is clear that the Seahawks view him as a key piece in a program that stunned critics by making the playoffs in what was supposed to be a "transitional'' year.

Also known as a "bad'' year.

That didn't happen, in part because the journeyman Smith rediscovered himself as a talent.

It is compelling that Geno's "chip on his shoulder'' isn't just about having been "written off,'' as he puts it, but also about trying to justify his bosses' faith in him.

"A guy like myself, who had been written off, been on the beach ... for them to see the work that I’ve been putting in, because I have been putting in an immense amount of work behind the scenes. ... Just for them to recognize that meant a lot to me,'' Smith said. "When the season came, they knew what I was going to do.''

Truthfully, maybe not even Seattle management saw this coming from a long-time backup who was named to the Pro Bowl. Geno Smith in Seattle, better than Russell Wilson in Denver?

That wasn't the plan. But it happened, and it helps push the "Russell Wilson Thing'' into the shadows, if only just a bit.

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