Geno Smith is back, having re-signed with the Seahawks after spending the 2019 season as the backup quarterback behind Russell Wilson. Tight end Justin Johnson was waived to make room on the 90-man roster.
Smith, 29, first signed with the Seahawks last year and eventually beat out Paxton Lynch in the competition for the backup job. Smith will again face competition for the No. 2 job, this time from rookie Anthony Gordon, who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Washington State following the 2020 draft.
Thanks to Wilson's durability—Seattle's starting quarterback has not missed a game since he came into the league in 2012—Smith did not appear in a regular-season game last year. Smith did have a pretty memorable moment last season despite not seeing any regular-season action, winning an overtime coin toss for Seattle with a call of “heads” that a lot of people thought sounded like “tails."
In three preseason games, Smith completed 52.9 percent of his pass attempts, throwing for 282 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, giving him a 100.4 passer rating. Smith's best performance came in Seattle's preseason finale in which he completed four of seven attempts for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
A second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2013, Smith was the New York Jets' starter for his first two seasons before an injury caused him to miss the start of the 2015 season and eventually lose his starting job. After four seasons with the Jets, Smith spent the 2017 season with the New York Giants and spent 2018 with the Los Angeles Chargers. In his career, Smith has started 31 games, completing 57.7 percent of his passes for 6,182 yards, 29 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.
Johnson signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie out of Mississippi State last year, but spent 2019 on injured reserve with an Achilles injury.
