Macdonald: Seahawks 'can win a championship with Geno'

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald held firm in his team's commitment to quarterback Geno Smith.

"Geno is our quarterback," Macdonald recently told Fox 13's Aaron Levine.

Smith has revived his career since becoming the Seahawks' full-time starter in 2022, but he threw 15 interceptions and Seattle missed the playoffs for a second straight year in 2024, leading to speculation that Macdonald's outfit could move on from the veteran signal-caller. Smith is under contract through the 2025 season but has a salary cap hit of $44.5 million this year with no guarantees left on his deal, according to Over The Cap. Seattle would save $31 million in cap space by releasing or trading him.

"I don't understand the conversation," Macdonald said about the rumors involving Smith. "It's pretty obvious this guy is a heck of a quarterback. He's our quarterback. We love him. Can't wait to go to work with him. We've had a lot of non-football conversations, to keep it legal, over the last month or so. And I know he's really excited about Klint (Kubiak) taking over."

He added: "He's a great player, man. And we can win a championship with Geno Smith."

Smith had a frustrating start to his NFL career. The 2013 second-round pick spent time with the New York Jets and served as a backup quarterback for the Jets and the Seahawks, among other organizations, from 2015-21. However, Seattle turned to him after trading Russell Wilson, and Smith stepped up to lead the team to a postseason berth in 2022 while leading the league with a 69.8% completion rate.

The Seahawks have posted a 27-22 record over the last three seasons with Smith under center. The 34-year-old has averaged 4,075 yards and 24 touchdown passes per year in that span.

Macdonald joined the franchise as a first-year head coach in 2024 with a new coaching staff, but he fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb at the end of this past regular season with the offense ranked 18th in EPA/play. Seattle has since hired Kubiak as his replacement.