The Seattle Seahawks have completely overhauled their quarterback room this offseason, and as time has gone on, one of their primary motivations has become incredibly obvious: saving money at the position.
Geno Smith reportedly wanted a massive raise from the Seahawks that would've likely placed him among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. Rather than paying him that, the Seahawks traded him away and instead signed Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal. Still pricey, but far better for their salary cap situation than the alternative.
They didn't stop there, though.
Earlier this week, Seattle brought back Drew Lock to (presumably) serve as Darnold's new primary backup. Very few backup quarterback deals are especially costly, but the Seahawks still managed to get him back fo great value.
According to OverTheCap, Lock will carry a cap hit of just $2.25 million in 2025 and $2.75 million in 2026. That $2.5 million average places him below backups like Mitchell Trubisky and Kyle Trask, who barely even played last season.
It's also notable in the fact that lock made $5 million with the New York Giants last season, so paying him only around half of that is a big win for the Seahawks.
After entering the offseason deep in the red, the Seahawks have done a great job of opening up cap space to allow for more flexibility in the future. One can certainly criticize how they've used that cap space this offseason, but there's no doubt John Schneider and co. have helped open up the future.
Whether or not Lock sees much meaningful action remains to be seen, but having a more reliable backup behind Darnold is a win itself.
