Seahawks lack options at backup QB
By Keith Myers
After failing to acquire Connor Shaw off the waiver wire, the Seattle Seahawks are left with very few options as their backup quarterback.
As you may have heard, the Seattle Seahawks put in a waiver claim on Connor Shaw. They didn’t get him, as he was awarded to the Bears, but it is telling they were were willing to try and claim him off waivers.
Shaw was the 4th QB on Cleveland’s roster. In his one NFL appearance, he completed just 14 of 28 passes. The 2014 undrafted free agent isn’t exactly a huge talent, and yet the Seahawks tried to add him to the roster.
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The hope had always been that Tarvaris Jackson would come to his senses and re-sign. After his
, it is obvious that he and his senses are still far apart. It is tough to believe the Seahawks would even have interest in him any more.
The next option was Trevone Boykin. He too dealt with legal problems last week. While it is unlikely that it’ll cause him to miss any of training camp, his guilty plea does leave him open to the possibility of a suspension at the start of the season.
While a suspension is unlikely, the you never know. The entire situation is dependent on the whims of commissioner Roger Goodell. Since when has he ever been predictable?
Even if he isn’t suspended, Boykin is still an undrafted rookie with no experience. It is a massive risk at this point to simply assume that he’ll be ready to step in an contribute right away. While he might be once the season begins, there’s no reason to assume that’ll be the case.
The only other QB on the roster right now is Jake Heaps. Heaps is nothing but a camp body. He hasn’t played significant football since he a college junior at Kansas in 2013. He hasn’t had what might be considered a reasonably good season of football since he was a freshman at BYU way back in 2010.
With no Jackson or Shaw to add to the competition for the backup QB job, the Seahawks will then move on to what is left on the free agent market. If teams are putting in waiver claims for a guy like Shaw, you know there’s very little out there that’s currently available.
Spotrac as a list of available QBs, and it isn’t pretty. If Boykin is suspended or fails to show he’s ready, the alternatives aren’t something to get excited about. To give you an idea of how bad it is, Jimmy Clausen is probably the best of the group. Yes, that Jimmy Clausen.
Next: Is Patrick Lewis on the roster bubble?
Put all of this together, and it appears likely that the Seahawks will continue to watch the waiver waiver looking for potential options. They simply lack another realistic option at the moment.