Geno Smith Will Be Seahawks' Starting QB 'Until He's Not,' GM John Schneider Says

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider told reporters Tuesday that quarterback Geno Smith is the team's starter "until he's not."

Gregg Bell of the News-Tribune relayed the remarks from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

The 33-year-old Smith is entering his fifth season in Seattle. He's started the last two campaigns, earning NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2022 after throwing for 30 touchdowns and 4,282 yards on a league-high 69.8 percent completion rate.

Schneider's comments come a few days after Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald was asked if Smith and backup Drew Lock are both "involved in the future of this organization going forward."

"That's a tough question, and it's one that I probably can't answer right now," Macdonald told KCPQ Seattle's Aaron Levine (h/t Bobby Kownack of NFL.com).

"But we're doing a lot of work on those guys. And I've had conversations just to get to know them. Understand who they are as people and their background, goals and what their family's like and where they're from. I didn't know anything about them coming into this whole thing. So, right now we're in the phase of figuring out who they are. Obviously, one or two, or both, would fit into our plans moving forward. But right now, probably don't have that answer for you."

By all accounts, Smith does appear to be QB1 at the moment. The team just restructured his $9.6 million roster bonus into a signing bonus to save some cap space, per ESPN's Field Yates.

Although his 2023 season wasn't as successful as his 2022 effort, Smith still fared well with 20 touchdowns, 3,624 passing yards and earned his second straight Pro Bowl appearance. Smith ranked 17th in quarterback rating and 15th in QBR, per Pro Football Reference.

Seattle has the talent on offense to do better (17th in scoring last year), especially with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Kenneth Walker also in tow. The Seahawks have much bigger issues on defense, with the team allowing 26 or more points in nine of their games.

Seattle has an offseason to address that and assuredly will, and the switch to Macdonald, a well-renowned ex-defensive coordinator with Michigan and the Baltimore Ravens, should help matters.

On the other side of the ball, though, Smith is the quarterback in Seattle "until he's not," as the GM stated.