For the most part, the Seattle Seahawks have not been viewed as a classless organization. Until this offseason, multiple players have not voiced their opinions about wanting out of Seattle. Sure, some former players, such as Richard Sherman, have complained about how the team approaches paying aging players, but every NFL team has qualms about that—or should.
This offseason, though, quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf decided Seattle was not going to pay them enough in the future and asked to be traded. The team obliged. Smith is now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, while Metcalf was dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Smith implied Seattle was focusing too much on its young core. This, however, is what many teams do to hopefully build for long-term success. If the young players are good and will continue to be so, they must be a priority to sign. A player in their mid-30s should be less so in many cases.
Seahawks' John Schneider takes the high road when responding to Geno Smith's comments
The quarterback said there was a "disconnect" between him, his agents, and the Seahawks regarding a contract that would keep him in Seattle for a few more years and pay him a good yearly salary. While his newly signed extension is overall not worth that much more money than new Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold's, Smith's guaranteed money is quite a bit more.
The odd bit about any "disconnect" is that it appeared to lie with the quarterback and his representatives rather than the team. Seattle made an offer to Smith and never heard back. Smith seems to have taken his notorious phrase "I ain't write back" literally when negotiating with the Seahawks.
Smith said, "(W)hen 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."
In other words, Smith equates respect with money. He does get paid to play football, and he rightfully wants to make as much money as he can, but Seattle showed they had respect for him when they made him the starter after Russell Wilson was traded in 2022, when many other teams would have never seen Smith as anything but a backup.
For his part, Seahawks general manager John Schneider has taken the high road in his response to Smith. Instead of suggesting that the team was right and Smith was wrong (and somewhat misleading in his comments after leaving Seattle), Schneider said Smith has a right to feel as he does. He cannot do anything to change it anyway.
On his weekly podcast on Seattle Sports 710 AM, Schneider said, "Very comfortable the way we handled it and knowing that, (as) a wise man told me once, you can’t tell somebody how to feel. There’s a lot of things you can do, but these are this person’s feelings. And it’s like any other relationship. That’s the way you feel. I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong."
Schneider also wanted to clarify how contract talks went with Smith. He said, "We made an offer, and we thought it was a strong offer. We wanted Geno to be here. You know, we had to be prepared if, obviously, they didn’t like the offer. There was no counter, so we just had to do what we always do, which is the best thing for the organization."
That is all Seahawks fans can ask of Schneider: to take care of the team first. If a player does not want to be with the Seahawks, it is best for the team's culture to let him go. With Geno Smith, John Schneider was not afraid to do that.
