SEATTLE — In the wake of what has to be the most stunning trade in Seattle sports history, we're stuck on one important question:
Who the heck is going to play quarterback for the Seahawks now?
Russell Wilson, after the most successful decade in Seahawks history, has been traded to the Denver Broncos in one of the biggest blockbuster deals in NFL history, a league source confirmed to The Seattle Times on Tuesday.
The Seahawks are expected to receive a massive haul from Denver that includes two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick and three players — quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant.
Lock is the most intriguing name there because — for now — he moves to the top of the list as Wilson's potential successor.
Key word there: potential.
Denver selected Lock in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft because he fit neatly into the archetype of an NFL quarterback: He's 6 feet 4 and 228 pounds and can throw a football over them mountains.
Those essential attributes did not yield many quality results during his three seasons in Denver. The Broncos had a 4-9 record with Lock as the QB in 2020, his only season as the regular starter; he threw 16 touchdown passes and a league-high 15 interceptions that year, completing just 57.3% of his pass attempts.
He was 0-3 as a starter in 2021.
Perhaps there is still elite potential in Lock, and maybe the Seahawks are the team that can, uh, un-Lock it.
But there is no way, knowing for more than a year now that trading Wilson was a real possibility, that Pete Carroll and John Schneider had targeted Drew Lock as Wilson's heir apparent.
They couldn't possibly settle for Lock as their starting QB in 2022.
Could they?
Over the past year, conventional wisdom around the Wilson trade rumors centered on the Seahawks' general win-now approach. Carroll will turn 71 in September and it's impossible to imagine him signing off on a rebuilding plan with a young, unproven QB.
Carroll, coming off a 7-10 season, has expressed optimism that the Seahawks can turn things around quickly in 2022. That task, of course, becomes more daunting without Wilson, the best QB in franchise history.
The Seahawks need a proven QB, and they join at least nine other teams — the Buccaneers, Colts, Commanders, Eagles, Lions, Panthers, Saints, Steelers and Texans — thought to be shopping in the QB market this offseason, to one degree or another.
What other options could the Seahawks explore? A few ideas:
Trade for a veteran QB
The 49ers are expected to trade Jimmy Garoppolo.
Perhaps the Raiders would prefer to trade Derek Carr rather than give him a long-term extension.
And the ugly saga surrounding Houston's Deshaun Watson remains one of the biggest uncertainties of this NFL offseason.
Would any of then make sense for the Seahawks? More important, would the Seahawks really consider a trade to acquire Watson, who missed the entire 2021 season because of an ongoing investigation in 22 civil cases filed against him for sexual misconduct?
ESPN's Kimberley Martin noted Tuesday that Watson and Garoppolo are the two QBs most NFL personnel expect to be traded this offseason. "And," Martin wrote on Twitter, "none of the coaches, personnel execs or scouts I talked to saw Watson's unresolved legal situation as a clear deterrent."
Trade for a young QB
Rumors persist that the Eagles are in the market for an established QB, an indication that Jalen Hurts could be available. And speaking of Eagles QBs, the Seahawks ought to at least make a call on former Washington State star Gardner Minshew.
Carroll was reportedly intrigued by Sam Darnold last year, when rumors surrounding Wilson first surfaced, and Darnold is still just 24 years old. Are the Seahawks intrigued enough to trade for Darnold and take on his $18.9 million salary for 2022?
And Aaron Rodgers announced Tuesday morning that he plans to return to Green Bay. Perhaps that will prompt the Packers to shop Jordan Love, their first-round pick in 2020.
Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, a former Seahawks scout, tweeted Tuesday that the Packers could trade Love for a second-round pick. Among many NFL scouts, he wrote, the "feeling is talent (and) upside worth that roll of dice."
Draft a QB in the first round
As part of Tuesday's blockbuster, the Seahawks acquired Denver's first-round pick in this year's draft — No. 9 overall. The Seahawks haven't selected a QB in the first round since 1993, when they took Rick Mirer with the No. 2 pick.
Could someone like Malik Willis tempt them this time around?
Willis, a 6-foot-1 dual-threat QB out of Liberty, was one of the darlings of the NFL combine last week in Indianapolis. "Willis has the scintillating combination of arm strength and athleticism that could help make him a superstar at the next level," The Ringer's Danny Kelly wrote. "No other quarterback in this class has a higher ceiling."
Many project Willis to be selected in the middle of the first round. In its latest mock draft posted Tuesday, Pro Football Focus has him going to Detroit as the No. 2 overall pick.
PFF projects two other QBs will be taken in the first round this year: Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett (11th, Washington) and Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder (27th, Tampa Bay).
