The Seahawks released Geno Smith on Saturday as part of their transactions to get the roster down to 53 players, but it turned out that was only a temporary move.

Smith's free agency was short-lived because on Sunday the Seahawks re-signed Smith, who emerged as the victor in the backup quarterback competition with Paxton Lynch.

Smith, who initially signed with the Seahawks in May, was a 2013 second-round pick out of West Virginia by the New York Jets. He was the Jets' starter during his first two seasons, then served as a backup for the Jets, Giants and Chargers over the past four seasons. He gives the Seahawks their most experienced backup behind Russell Wilson since Tarvaris Jackson.

In three preseason games—he missed one after having a cyst removed from his knee—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 Thursday's preseason finale in which he completed four of seven attempts for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

Smith's signing comes after the completion of the trade that sent Barkevious Mingo and Jacob Martin to Houston as well as a 2020 third-round pick to acquire defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. That move wasn't finalized Saturday, meaning that in order to get the roster to 53 players while keeping both Mingo and Martin on the roster, the Seahawks had to free up a spot, which they did by temporarily releasing then re-signing Smith, a veteran who was in Seattle's plans, but who wasn't subject to waivers.

In addition to making the Clowney trade official and bringing back Smith, the Seahawks also signed six players to their practice squad, all six of whom were with the Seahawks in camp and the preseason. Seattle now has four open spots remaining on the practice squad.

Here's the Seahawks' practice squad makeup so far:

WR Jazz Ferguson

WR Terry Wright

TE Jacob Hollister

CB Simeon Thomas

G Jordan Roos

T Elijah Nkansah