Four Seattle Seahawks who should not return in 2024
Some of these roster decisions might not be easy, but they still should be made.
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks came out fighting in Week 13 against a good Dallas Cowboys team that had won each home game by at least 20 points in 2023. Though Seattle played hard, they still lost 41-35. The team is now 6-6 with two extraordinarily tough games in the next two weeks.
Seattle might be 6-8 before the schedule begins to ease a bit. Still, the Seahawks still have to play a Pittsburgh Steelers team with a very good defense. Should Seattle lose that game, the best Seattle could hope for might be 8-9 and that would mean missing the playoffs.
This would be unacceptable for a team that surprisingly made the playoffs in 2022 and was expected to be more talented in 2023, and, therefore, better. That is not the case so far. And general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll need to already be looking at some tough roster in the 2024 offseason.
Seattle Seahawks should not bring back quarterback Drew Lock
The Seahawks might need two new quarterbacks, or maybe they take a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and let that quarterback sit behind Geno Smith for a year. Financially, Seattle releasing Smith after 2023 makes sense, but it makes more sense to replace him after 2024. Smith would save almost $14 million by cutting Smith before 2024 but they would save $25 million before 2025. Smith starting as QB1 in 2024 would seem assured.
But who should back up Smith? It certainly should not be Drew Lock. Lock is only signed for this season and in limited time in two games he has been pretty bad. He is 4 of 12 for 66 yards (51 of which came after a short four-yard pass to Noah Fant that Fant turned into a 51-yard gain) with zero touchdowns and 1 interception. His quarterback rating is an incredibly low 18.1. Smith might be a mediocre quarterback in 2023, but there is nothing that we have seen from Lock in his career to suggest he is capable of being close to a long-term QB1.
I know there is a common argument that Lock came in cold off the bench in two games and that is why his numbers are so bad. This is simply an excuse, however, but not a good one. Backup quarterbacks in the NFL are still expected to produce even if they come in cold. I hope that Lock finds a team in the NFL and somehow becomes a decent backup, but the Seahawks need to stick with Smith for at least another year while drafting his replacement. The rookie quarterback in 2024 simply pushes Lock out of a job.