Mike Macdonald seems open to keeping Geno Smith as Seattle’s starting quarterback beyond 2024. But the Seahawks are not considering an extension at this point, John Schneider recently said in response to a report that Smith’s agent has asked for a new deal.

Smith still needs to prove he is worth a raise and extension.

As Mike Sando’s annual ranking of quarterbacks by 50 NFL coaches and executives confirmed, the league simply does not value Smith any higher than the deal he has.

He was 20th in that ranking, which matches his APY standing among NFL QB contracts.

Smith was in the third tier of passers, right ahead of Seattle predecessor Russell Wilson and right behind Baker Mayfield and Derek Carr.

Not so coincidentally, Smith sits right behind Mayfield and Carr on the QB salary chart as well. Smith is 20^th at $25 million a year, Mayfield is right above him at $33 million and Carr is tied for 17^th at $37.5 million (with Aaron Rodgers).

It seems pretty clear that Smith is going to have to change some minds in 2024 if he wants to get a better contract in 2025.

Plenty of NFL observers think Smith should be ranked above those guys. One offensive coordinator who voted Smith among the top 14 told Sando, “He was a consistent player for two years in a row as a starter, and he played good ball. They didn’t win because of their run game. They didn’t win because of defense. They won because the pass game was pretty consistent.”

Warren Sharp, longtime NFL analytics guy, pointed out that Shane Waldron held Smith back in the red zone – running the ball more than almost every team in the league. He certainly thinks Smith deserves better in the QB ranking.

But Smith received little interest around the league in 2023, despite a Pro Bowl year. And nothing seems to have changed, other than Seattle’s coaching staff.

Smith needs his offensive line to stay healthy and new OC Ryan Grubb to consistently put him in position to succeed.

If that happens and Smith exceeds his last two seasons, the Hawks and the rest of the NFL likely will consider him better than the 20th quarterback. And then he’ll get paid like it.

Macdonald seems quite bullish on Smith, saying recently he has “a tremendous amount of faith. I mean, the whole thing revolves around the QB, and he’s our quarterback. And we’re excited that he is.

“Quarterback, obviously, is the most important position, but just like anybody that’s going to go out there, I don’t see how you could put someone out there that you don’t have 100% faith in. And, they’ve earned this opportunity, but Geno, most importantly, he’s right there, leading the charge.”

Then we’ll see whether that leads to a new deal in 2025.

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