The Seattle Seahawks were always expected to bring in a third quarterback to compete with undrafted free agent Anthony Gordon for the job of backing up ironman Russell Wilson on the active roster.
They reportedly got that done on Thursday afternoon, agreeing to terms with free agent Geno Smith, who served as Wilson’s backup during the 2019 season.
Backup quarterbacks in Seattle have not had to see the field in years, as Wilson hasn’t missed a game in his entire career and rarely misses even a single snap.
Still, it’s an important spot to feel comfortable with the next man up. Seattle would be in a load of trouble if Wilson had to miss extended time, but having a backup they feel comfortable in could help ease the pain at least a little.
Coach Pete Carroll seems to prefer his veteran backups, as evidenced by the team’s decision to draft Alex McGough in 2017 but then cut him in favor of former starter Brett Hundley just before the season began.
Last year the Seahawks had Smith compete with another experienced veteran, Paxton Lynch, before eventually handing the job to the former.
Smith, Hundley and the late Tarvaris Jackson are the most recent backups in the Emerald City, all quarterbacks with a similar skill set to Wilson and NFL experience.
That seems to spell trouble for Gordon, who was a monster in his final season in Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense at Washington State but somehow went undrafted despite a fair amount of hype.
Seattle was wise to snatch Gordon, who has impeccable accuracy as a quarterback but lacks the arm strength and awareness to be an immediate impact player at the next level.
The Seahawks attempted to keep McGough as a developmental quarterback, but after one year on the practice squad he signed elsewhere. If Smith wins the backup job again in 2020, which seems likely, the Seahawks will likely do the same with Gordon.
Wilson is still in his prime, but it might be wise for Seattle to commit to grooming a backup in his mold for the future. As long as Carroll prefers veteran backups, however, this team will struggle to develop someone as his replacement and could be in a bind when the time comes that Wilson is no longer an elite quarterback.
Of course, Wilson intends to play until he is 45, so maybe the team will continue cycling through veteran backups until then, making the need for development unnecessary for the next decade or so.
How this team handles the competition between Smith and Gordon could go a long way toward determining its long-term goals behind Wilson.
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