One analyst believes Seattle Seahawks could welcome this quarterback back home

The Seattle Seahawks have made no indication they are ready to move on from Geno Smith as starting quarterback. Many sites have discussed that possibility, including us at 12th Man Rising, but no one truly knows what general manager John Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald are thinking. And they are not going to tell anyone anyway.

12s know even less about the future of Drew Lock who has served as Smith's backup for the last two years. He is a free agent this offseason and he played well enough in a couple of starts in 2023 that he might garner more pay this offseason from some team if not a look at being that team's QB1. Lock is unlikely to overtake Smith as Seattle's starter so if he wants a real opportunity at starting he probably needs to go elsewhere.

But if that happens, Seattle needs to find his replacement, of course. That could mean Seattle takes a quarterback somewhere in the 2024 NFL draft, but probably not in the first round. The Seahawks could take a flier on a third-round or later quarterback and hope that they turn out to be the next Brock Purdy or Aiden O'Connell. But one of Bleacher Report's NFL analysts, Gary Davenport, has a different idea.

Seattle Seahawks might need to find a new backup for Geno Smith this offseason

In a recent article about bargain free agents teams tight against the cap could sign, Davenport offered the idea that Seattle could bring in Gardner Minshew to be Smith's backup. Minshew played his final year of college at Washington State and he has been a pretty good backup in the NFL. Heck, he managed to find his way onto the Pro Bowl roster this season after other quarterbacks opted out.

Is Minshew a long-term starter for any team? That is very unlikely, but he can win games for a team while also not breaking the salary cap by signing. In five seasons in the NFL, he has played with three different teams yet never made more than $5.5 million and that was in 2023 when he was forced into starting 13 games for the Indianapolis Colts after presumed starter Anthony Richardson's season was cut short because of injury.

Minshew has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 59:24 in his five seasons. His career quarterback rating is 90.2. He has also led his teams to six game-winning drives in 37 starts so that is not bad either.

Drew Lock made $4 million this season as backup to Geno Smith. That should be about the amount Minshew is offered as well somewhere. Lock has a bigger arm than Minshew so he might be offered more money because of that reason than Minshew. The Seahawks should think of bringing the Mustache back to Washington as he would be a safe backup to Smith.

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