Seahawks news for Saturday: A former great says please no to Baker

In the latest Seahawks news, all the talk is about who is going to be the quarterback in 2022. But one former great for Seattle doesn’t want Baker Mayfield.

One thing I won’t mention here is DK Metcalf. 12s all know he was a no-show at mandatory minicamp and is wanting an extension worked out with the Seahawks. Let’s hope it happens but it hasn’t happened yet and most of the real power lies with Seattle. If Metcalf doesn’t sign any offered extension (hopefully he likes the actual deal whatever it is), Seattle can just franchise-tag him next offseason.

Oh, wait. I guess I just mentioned DK Metcalf anyway. I digress. So on to the quarterback discussion.

The latest Seattle Seahawks news is all quarterbacks all the time (sort of)

Geno leads Drew…for now

This makes sense. Drew Lock is brand new to offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s system and Smith played last year under Waldron. If Lock were to come in this offseason, not knowing what Waldron wants to do, and is already taking QB1 snaps, what would that say about Smith? Not much.

But Pete Carroll said on Thursday that Smith is “still ahead” of Lock at this point. This means if the season were to start on June 11th, Smith would be the starter. But we have three months for Lock to acclimate to Seattle’s system. Basically, it’s a toss-up who starts at QB in Week 1 still.

Shaun Alexander says Seahawks shouldn’t get Baker Mayfield

Alexander was on the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio this week and meant no offense to Baker Mayfield specifically but brought up points as to why Alexander thinks the Seahawks should not try to acquire Mayfield. Alexander wasn’t truly opposed to signing Mayfield in free agency but doesn’t want Seattle to trade for him.

Alexander thinks Mayfield’s ceiling isn’t much higher, if any, than Smith’s or Lock’s. His point is well-made. Why give up a player or draft capital for a quarterback when he might not be any better than the ones the Seahawks already have on the roster?

The stickler is that Mayfield might actually be better than Smith or Lock (Mayfield has won a playoff game and was good in 2020 and also in 2021 before he got hurt). Plus, if Seattle were to give up a late-round draft choice for Mayfield, the chances that player ends up being any better than Mayfield is slight. The big question is whether the Cleveland Browns will pick up a large chunk of Mayfield’s 2022 salary.