It was revealed Thursday that the Seahawks have restructured quarterback Geno Smith's contract, turning a $9.6 million roster bonus into a signing bonus to create salary-cap space for next season.
It was a move many took as solidifying his status as the team's starting quarterback in 2024.
The move means the bonus — which Smith had been due to receive if on the roster March 18 — is spread out over the two remaining seasons on Smith's contract in 2024 and 2025 for salary-cap purposes.
Instead of all $9.6 million going on the cap for the 2024 season, only half does, with the other half moving to 2025.
The Seahawks now are listed as being over the 2024 cap by $430,353 by the website OvertheCap.com. All teams must be at or under the cap by March 13 when the new league year begins.
The move led most observers to conclude that it assures Smith's standing with the team for next season, especially after Smith's $12.7 million base salary for 2024 became guaranteed Feb. 16 when he remained on the roster.
When the base-salary deadline passed, many viewed the roster-bonus date as a final deadline for Seattle to make a move with Smith. An ESPN report stated then that the Seahawks could still explore trade options with Smith.
"The Seahawks believed that, with salaries soaring for starting quarterbacks in today's market, the right decision was to guarantee Smith's $12.7 million," ESPN wrote. " ... Now Smith will represent a value to them — or any other team that decides to reach out to see if it can acquire Smith via trade."
But the Seahawks now must pay the $9.6 million to Smith no matter what. Had they made a move with Smith before the roster bonus kicked in on March 18, they would not have had to pay that out.
However, the move also decreases Smith's cap hit for 2024 from $31.2 million to $26.4 million and could in theory make it somewhat easier to trade him. Another team trading for Smith would take on less of a cap hit for this season and not have to pay the bonus.
But most logically, the move signals that the Seahawks view Smith as their starter for 2024. Their precedent has generally been to do restructures only with players they intend to keep.
The move could also put Smith's long-term standing with the team into more question. His cap hit for the 2025 season increases from $33.7 million to $38.5 million.
But for now, the team is focused on 2024.
During his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports 710, Seahawks president of football operations John Schneider said the ability to make the move was written into Smith's contract, and the team did it to free up cap space.
"It's just a trigger that's in there," Schneider said.
Such triggers are in the contracts of other players, as well.
"At any given time, if we feel the need, we can move that into signing bonus and create more cap room," Schneider said.
As for the timing of restructuring Smith's contract now, Schneider said only that when to exercise such a trigger is "based on the player, where they are in their contract and how we set up each contract specific to that player."
Seattle could restructure Smith's contract further if needed by turning his $12.7 million salary into a bonus and spreading it out over the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
For now, Smith's cap hit of $26.4 million ranks 16th among quarterbacks for the 2024 season, according to Spotrac.com.
Seattle could also look to restructure other contracts, such as that of receiver Tyler Lockett, or possibly cut some high-salaried players to create further cap space.
