Seahawks' Geno Smith embracing 'year-by-year' mindset despite contract

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith got paid this offseason but still sounds like a man pursuing a long-term commitment from the club.

"It's still year-by-year," Smith told reporters about his mindset amid organized team activities, per Brady Henderson of ESPN. "I've got to look at it like that. It's one year at a time for me. My celebration (regarding his contract) was I picked up my baby and hugged him up and then I went to the weight room and got back to work. Just got to stay in it. I'm just trying to keep working and focus on ball."

Smith earned his first Pro Bowl nod and Comeback Player of the Year honors coming off the finest season, to date, of his career. The 32-year-old then agreed to what was initially reported to be a three-year, $105M (max value) contract in March, but Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio subsequently reported that Seattle could potentially move on from the deal as soon as next winter. 

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made it known in March he felt Smith was "gambling a little bit" on himself by signing such a contract, and Carroll later suggested he could've pushed for the club to select Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson in this year's draft had Richardson slid to overall pick No. 5. Smith previously indicated he would mentor but also compete with a first-year signal-caller, and he offered a similar take early into OTAs. 

"It's the NFL, there's a draft every year," Smith remarked. "There's players out there, guys out there working hard. That's why I've got to work hard. I've got to be better than those guys, and I look at everyone as competition. There's a lot of great rookies that are coming out of the draft and I think they're all deserving. So if we'd have picked one, I would have given him my all, just as would I do to any teammate. It really didn't matter to me. I love competition so I'll compete with everybody."

Smith turns 33 years old this fall and said he's "striving" to play past his 40th birthday. For now, he's merely looking to earn more than featuring for Seattle through the 2023 campaign and possibly a contract extension from the franchise by this time next year.