Seahawks offseason roster report: Quarterbacks

There will be a ton of movement personnel-wise on the Seahawks roster as the offseason progresses, but before all that, I thought it would be worthwhile to take stock of how Seattle's roster looks prior to free agency and the draft. Let's start with quarterback, where things are pretty simple.

Under contract:

QB Russell Wilson 5'10, 215
QB Phillip Sims 6'4, 210 [FUT]

Russell Wilson is the starter next year. That's easy. He had a career year after signing a big extension last summer, setting personal bests in completion percentage (68.1), yards (4,024), YPA (8.3), touchdowns (34) and QB rating (110.1) while tossing just 8 interceptions.

Bottom line, it's good to be Seattle when it comes to the quarterback position, and that's the most important position on the roster by a wide margin. Having Russell Wilson under contract sets Seattle up for success for the foreseeable future. I can't stress enough how important it is that Wilson took a big jump forward this season. Having Wilson under contract simplifies everything else greatly this offseason.

The only question then becomes: "who will back Russell Wilson up in 2016?"

Right now, the only quarterback slated to be under contract this offseason is Phillip Sims, a former signal caller for Alabama, Virginia, and Winston-Salem State. He seems like more of a long-term practice squad project than a real backup, which, in my mind, means Seattle will sign a free agent veteran to play that role. It will probably be Tarvaris Jackson again.

Which brings me to...

Free agents:

QB Tarvaris Jackson 6'2, 215 [UFA]

T-Jack (or T-bird si vous préfèrez) made $1.5M in 2015 after shopping around during the offseason as an unrestricted free agent. He made $1.25M in 2014. I'm guessing he could be had for something along those same lines this upcoming season, if the Seahawks want to go that route.

Another route the Seahawks could go when it comes to a backup quarterback would be to draft one. John Schneider had said a few times early on in his tenure here that the team would draft a quarterback every year... but in six drafts they've selected exactly one quarterback (Russell Wilson), so I'd imagine it will be rookie free agency again for the Seahawks in 2016. That would mean, well, that whoever that UDFA rookie is, he probably won't be the real backup.

I'm going with a return of T-Jack in 2016. If not, free agency. Here's a list from OverTheCap of the free agent quarterbacks (select QB). Charlie Whitehurst is one!