The Raiders traded for Geno Smith with a long-term plan in place for the quarterback. That entails signing Smith to a contract extension.
The Seahawks traded Smith to the Raiders because of Smith’s financial expectations.
Smith is headed into the final year of his deal, scheduled to make $31 million this season, but the Raiders are negotiating with Smith’s representation.
“We’re working on it,” coach Pete Carroll said at the NFL’s annual meetings. “Yeah, we’re working on it. G’s excited to get going, get started. He’ll be here when we get rolling. But we are working on it.”
Carroll, who was with Smith for five of the quarterback’s six seasons in Seattle, said Smith isn’t a bridge quarterback. The Raiders traded for him to be their quarterback long term.
“Yes, absolutely. I’m hoping that’s the way it’s going to be,” Carroll said.
In Smith’s two seasons as the full-time starter under Carroll, Smith went 17-15 with two Pro Bowls, 7,906 passing yards, 50 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
Carroll knew when he took the Raiders job he wanted Smith as his quarterback.
“He’s a great competitor,” Carroll said. “His conviction to believe in himself is why he is who he is. That’s why he’s stood through all of these challenges. He’s made it through it, and he’s ready to be on top of the world. He can do anything in this game.”
The Matt Weiss situation has plenty of NFL tentacles. Some predated the launch of an alleged pattern of obtaining access to sensitive information regarding college students. Some postdated it.
Weiss was working for the Ravens in 2015, when he allegedly began downloading “the personally identifiable information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes,” including “intimate digital photographs and videos that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners.” It allegedly continued for the remainder of his employment with the Ravens, through 2020.
The Ravens did not respond to a request for comment on Weiss, whose investigation and indictment happened following his time with the team.
After the investigation began in January 2023, Weiss secured contract work with a pair of NFL franchises. In Seattle, it happened in 2024. In 2023, he worked as a contractor with the Browns.
He was, per the Browns, never in the building but did some “one-off” advance projects. He left in 2024 for the Seahawks.
The NFL has not responded to a specific request for comment regarding two teams utilizing Weiss’s services after the investigation culminating in last week’s indictment began.
In early 2023, Michigan abruptly fired co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss following the commencement of an investigation of “computer access crimes.” Last week, more details about the alleged crimes came to light.
Weiss was indicted on 24 counts arising from allegations that he “downloaded the personally identifiable information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes,” including “intimate digital photographs and videos that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners.”
In the period between the start of the investigation and his indictment, Weiss worked as a consultant for at least two different NFL teams.
In 2024, Weiss worked as an outside contractor for the Seahawks, with access to film. He did not attend practices or games, and he had no access to the team’s computer system.
The arrangement, which arose from Weiss’s connection to former Michigan assistant and current Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, commenced with an understanding that it would be immediately terminated if he were to be charged. The relationship concluded when the 2024 season ended.
The Seahawks did not know the specifics of the investigation. (In hindsight, they probably wish they’d asked.)
That’s what we know. Here’s what we don’t know. Did the NFL affirmatively approve the hire, and did the league attempt to ascertain the specific nature of the allegations?
The situation highlights the tension between the criminal justice system and the NFL’s creation of its own in-house justice system. With the potential for serious charges pending, Weiss was allowed to work for (as a contractor) the Seahawks and another team. Given the NFL’s commitment to the policing of the private lives of players and non-players, the failure of the league to slam the door on Weiss working in any capacity for any team is, at a minimum, a curiosity.
On Tuesday, we asked the league about Weiss, given that he worked for the Ravens during a large portion of the time he was allegedly accessing sensitive information in violation of the law. The league declined comment. We’ve renewed the request, given the news that he worked for multiple teams since the investigation began.
The Seahawks signed wide receiver Steven Sims on Tuesday, the team announced.
Sims, 27, played for the Texans and the Ravens in 2024. He played 10 offensive snaps and 78 on special teams, averaging 5.8 yards on 21 punt returns and 27.9 yards on seven kickoff returns.
Sims went undrafted out of Kansas in 2019, signing with Washington. He also has played for Pittsburgh in addition to Houston and Baltimore.
As a receiver, Sims has 78 career catches for 704 yards and five touchdowns. He has added 25 carries for 174 yards and a 65-yard touchdown.
Sims, though, has made his mark in the NFL as a returner.
In 53 career regular-season games, Sims has 74 punt returns for 462 yards (6.2-yard average), as well as 62 kick returns for 819 yards (25.2-yard average). He has one return touchdown in the regular season and one in the postseason.
It’s safe to say Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons isn’t upset about DeMarcus Lawrence’s departure for Seattle. Parsons now is the unquestioned leader of the Cowboys defense, a role Lawrence, as the elder statesman, held since Parsons arrived as a first-round pick in 2021.
Parsons also no longer has to feign a camaraderie with Lawrence.
“I thought it was my time last year, trying to bring that team back in life, even though most people thought we were dead in the water,” Parsons said last week, via Clarence Hill of All City DLLS. “I think it’s my time now. I don’t got to bump heads with no other dude. I wish them guys the best. But it’s kind of hard when you butt heads with another person. They think different; they feel different; and they want to be in the room different. Now it’s my time to really take over.”
The truth of Parsons and Lawrence’s relationship was revealed during a public spat after Lawrence said he was never going to win a Super Bowl in Dallas. Parsons went after Lawrence on social media and Lawrence responded, saying among other things, “Maybe if you spent less time tweeting and more time winning, I wouldn’t have left.”
Over the summer, Cowboys defensive back Malik Hooker questioned how much time Parsons spends on his podcast.
Parsons again has found it necessary to defended himself against questions about whether his off-field pursuits are a distraction to the team.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Parsons said. “You watch the tape. There’s no question I’m locked in. I’m giving my actual best effort out there on the field, which I think that’s all that matters. I have an obligation to be the leader of my family, to take care of my family, and that’s to provide for them. I keep the main thing, the main thing. But I like off-field adventures, too.
“Everyone has their selection of how they want to deal with things. Some people drink. Some people smoke. I like to tweet. I like to be active and know about ball. I like to know what everyone else is doing. And that’s just me. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. What I care about is the effort you give me on the football field, and that’s something you can’t question. I know I’m one of the best players and as long as I’m performing that way, it shouldn’t matter. When you jump offside on the goal line, is that because I’m tweeting? I think it’s ridiculous, outrageous.”
Parsons is scheduled to play 2025 on the fifth-year option of $24.07 million but is expected to sign a long-term contract that will pay him more than $40 million annually. Parsons said that would make him the happiest man alive.
The Seahawks signed tight end Eric Saubert on Monday, the team announced.
Saubert spent last season with the 49ers, playing all 17 games with three starts. He caught 11 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown, seeing action on 377 offensive snaps and 302 on special teams.
The Falcons made Saubert a fifth-round pick in 2017, and he spent two seasons in Atlanta, one in Chicago, one in Jacksonville and two in Denver before playing games for Houston and Dallas in 2023. He joined the 49ers in the 2024 offseason.
In his career, Saubert has appeared in 101 games with 19 starts, recording 47 receptions for 389 yards and three touchdowns. He also has been a core special teams player with 1,753 career snaps.
He joins a tight ends room that includes Noah Fant, AJ Barner and Brady Russell.
The Seahawks signed free agent wide receiver River Cracraft on Friday, the team announced.
Cracraft spent the past three seasons with the Dolphins. In 2024, he went on injured reserve Aug. 27 with a shoulder injury but returned to play eight games and caught seven passes for 66 yards.
He played 120 offensive snaps and 23 on special teams last season.
Cracraft, who played collegiately at Washington State, began his NFL career on Denver’s practice squad in 2017. He made his regular-season debut for the Broncos in 2018, appearing in eight games with one catch for 44 yards.
Cracraft also spent two seasons with the 49ers, and over seven seasons, he has appeared in 53 games with two starts. He has 32 catches for 374 yards and three touchdowns.
The Seahawks also announced the re-signing of linebacker Josh Ross.
Ross, who the Seahawks claimed off waivers from Baltimore last season, appeared in 10 games for Seattle in 2024. He played 67 percent of the team’s special teams snaps and recorded four tackles.
Ross went undrafted out of Michigan in 2022 and signed with the Ravens. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald was the defensive coordinator at Michigan in 2021 and the defensive coordinator of the Ravens in 2022-23.
The Seahawks are adding some depth to their secondary and special teams.
D’Anthony Bell is signing a one-year deal in Seattle, according to Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports.
Bell was undrafted in 2022 and took a winding road to the NFL after playing football at four different colleges, but he proved himself once he made the Browns’ roster and started seven games at safety in three years in Cleveland while also becoming a core special teamer. Last year he played in all 17 games and was on the field for 9 percent of the Browns’ defensive snaps and 85 percent of special teams plays.
In Seattle, Bell will have to compete to make the roster, but he’ll have a good chance of making it, and of making an impact in the kicking game.
The Seahawks have overhauled their offense this offseason.
Longtime star wideouts Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are no longer with the team and Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have signed with the club to join Jaxson Smith-Njigba in the group. They’ll be playing with a new quarterback in Sam Darnold and for a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak, so it’s almost an entirely fresh start in Seattle.
Valdes-Scantling underscored that point while speaking to reporters on Thursday. The veteran wideout said that neither he nor Kupp is coming to Seattle to do impressions of what Lockett and Metcalf did during their time with the team.
“You don’t try to fill those shoes,” Valdes-Scantling said, via the team’s website. “You can’t do that. You go out and you be the best version of yourself and whatever that looks like is what it looks like. . . . You can’t really recreate something that’s only created once. You just go out and be the best version of yourself and it’s gotta be enough.”
Valdes-Scantling’s best version of himself could include helping his new teammates find their way in Kubiak’s offense. He played for Kubiak in New Orleans last season and that should be a plus to easing the transition to this iteration of the Seahawks offense.
When receiver D.K. Metcalf was traded to the Steelers, he received a new contract. The five-year, $150 million deal replaces the final year of his prior contract, at $18 million. The new-money average, then, is $33 million per year.
We’ve gotten the full details regarding the contract. Here they are, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $30 million.
2. 2025 base salary: $5 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 base salary: $25 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2027 offseason roster bonus: $6.5 million.
5. 2027 base salary: $20 million, guaranteed for injury.
6. 2028 offseason roster bonus: $5 million.
7. 2028 base salary: $23 million.
8. 2029 offseason roster bonus: $5 million.
9. 2029 base salary: $30.5 million.
That’s it. No frills. No incentives. No per-game roster bonuses. No workout bonuses.
It’s a guaranteed two-year, $60 million deal with team held options for the balance of the contract. He gets $26.5 million in 2027, $28 million in 2028, and $35.5 million in 2029 — if the Steelers choose to continue the deal.
That last year is high. Will they pay him $35.5 million in the fifth year? If they don’t, it becomes a four-year, $114.5 million deal. With an average of $28.625 million.
Or it can be a three-year, $86.5 million deal. Putting the average at $28.83 million.
