Seahawks want Tarvaris Jackson back, says Pete Carroll

The Seahawks are set at the quarterback spot with Russell Wilson, but a reliable backup is also a very valuable commodity in this league. With long-time backup Tarvaris Jackson still an unrestricted free agency, the question of who will back up Russell Wilson next season remains an important one for Seattle.

ESPN's Jessamyn McIntyre reported back in February that Jackson would test the waters of free agency, and that's clearly been the case as he remains unsigned, but we hadn't heard a whole lot in terms of what the Seahawks wanted to do at that spot until now. Pete Carroll recently told Bob Condotta that the team would like to have Jackson's services once again in 2016.

"We really liked his contributions and he's been a big factor for us and we would like to have him back if we could,'' Carroll told Condotta last week at the Owners' Meetings.

Jackson has started 32 games in his career and has been in Darrell Bevell's offensive system for a total of ten years -- every year he's been in the league outside of his one-year stint in Buffalo in 2012. That kind of continuity and high-level experience is certainly valuable.

I would guess that at this point it's looking more and more likely Seattle will come to an agreement that will keep Jackson in town but if they can't, I'd expect a UDFA or two to come in and compete, and perhaps John Schneider will actually use another draft pick on a backup. There's still a handful of backup level quarterbacks out there in veteran free agency as well.