A former fan favorite is making his return to the Pacific Northwest.
On Friday April 10th, Drew Lock agreed to terms on a two year contract to return to Seattle. Lock, 28, is a former 2nd round draft pick of the Broncos in 2019. After three disappointing seasons, he was sent to Seattle as a main piece of the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade before the 2022 season. Drew entered a competition with Geno Smith and was named Geno’s backup. Despite not seeing any game action, Seattle brought him back on a 1 year contract for the 2023 season. Lock appeared in four games in 2023 and had many highs and lows, including the game winning touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Monday Night Football against the Eagles. Seattle went in a different direction at the backup QB spot in 2024 and Lock went on to join the Giants on a one year contract worth $5 million.
He appeared in eight games for New York and put up modest numbers with 1,071 yards, a 6:5 touchdown to interception ratio, and completed 59.1% of his passes for a passer rating of 75.5. PFF gave Lock a poor 53.6 grade which ranked 40th out of 42 eligible quarterbacks. Despite a fairly poor 2024 season, Drew has a chance to come back to a place where he saw some success in limited action two years ago. The Lock signing brings up several questions about the Seahawks current quarterback room.
Current Quarterback Room
Seattle’s quarterback room is now made up of Sam Darnold, Sam Howell, Jaren Hall, and Drew Lock. The Seahawks likely will only carry two QBs on their active roster during the season and one on the practice squad. Add in the potential for the Seahawks to add a rookie via the draft or UDFA and that makes for an overly crowded QB room. Darnold, who was recently signed to the biggest contract GM John Schneider has ever given to an outside free agent, will surely be the starter. Darnold has received his fair share of time in the spotlight this offseason, so I am going to focus more on the unknowns behind him on the depth chart where the real competition is taking place.
Sam Howell
Seattle acquired Howell last March along with fourth and sixth round picks from the Commanders in exchange for third and fifth round picks. The trade led many to believe that Howell was a potential long term starter for the Seahawks, but the season went about as poorly for Howell as it possibly could have. Howell only appeared in 2 games and took 25 snaps but was abysmal when he was on the field. He put up an embarrassingly bad performance while filling in after a Geno Smith injury on Sunday Night Football against the Packers in Week 14. He completed just 5 of his 14 attempts for a measly 24 yards and an interception and was sacked 4 times. The combination of Howell’s performance and him entering the last year of his contract makes it no surprise that Seattle is opting to bring in some more competition at the position.
Jaren Hall
Hall was added last September to the Seahawks practice squad and spent most of the season there, being elevated twice and eventually being signed to the active roster. He never appeared in any games for Seattle, but he has untapped potential as a prospect and the staff clearly sees something in him. Hall is a QB3 with upside that could stick around and continue to develop.
Draft Options
It is still a very real possibility that Schneider uses one of his ten draft picks on a quarterback, as I don’t think the Lock signing will affect their draft strategy much if at all. Darnold and now Lock are the only QBs currently under contract beyond this season and Seattle would be wise to look for a long term backup. Seattle will likely look into drafting someone like Quinn Ewers, Jalen Milroe, Tyler Shough, Kyle McCord, or Jaxson Dart. If Seattle were to pick a QB I would expect the selection to be Round 3 or later.
Final Outlook
In the end, I think that unless a rookie is drafted the Seahawks will start Sam Darnold, keep Drew Lock as his backup, and keep Jaren Hall or a later addition on the practice squad as QB3. Unfortunately, the Sam Howell trade has not worked out for Howell or the Seahawks and I think both sides would benefit from a fresh start. I would be surprised if Howell is cut outright, but I think John Schneider should be able to receive at least some draft capital in a trade, whether that’s on draft day or later on in the offseason. I like the Lock signing because if nothing else he will bring some friendly competition to the group and a big personality back to the place he previously called home for two years.
