The Seattle Seahawks have their star quarterback, Russell Wilson, locked in on a long-term deal. Wilson is entering his age-28 season and he's set to count for $18.8 million against the cap in 2017. He'll remain under contract for two more years beyond that, and seems likely to get an extension before his contract is up -- one that keeps him in Seattle for the rest of his career.
Beyond Wilson, the Seahawks' quarterback situation can best be described as unsettled. Of course, having a starter that has never missed a game is a blessing, but you don't want to be caught unprepared in case he happens to go down.
The depth chart behind Wilson currently consists of 2016 undrafted free agent Trevone Boykin, 2015 undrafted free agent Jake Heaps, and 2017 undrafted free agent Skyler Howard. Wilson was a third-round pick that turned into a franchise player, but that's the exception, not the rule.
So it may not be all that surprising that when Pete Carroll was asked about his backup quarterback plans for the 2017 season, he acknowledged that the team is interested in two fairly high-profile veterans: Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III.
"We're looking at everybody. We really are," Carroll said during a radio appearance, per ESPN.com. "We've been tracking everything that's going on, and we've got cap and roster issues and stuff like that that we're still trying to manage properly. But quite frankly, yes, we are looking at all those guys."
Neither Kaepernick nor Griffin is as good as Wilson, obviously, but one can see the motivation for having a backup that has some starting experience in the NFL and at least some measure of a pedigree. Boykin is the most experienced of Seattle's backups, and he's thrown 18 career passes. He was also arrested this offseason.
Griffin is injury prone and employing Kaepernick means dealing with people that complain about his extracurricular interests, but several members of the Seahawks were very vocal in their support of his stance against police violence and the treatment of people of color in America, so it shouldn't be a problem in that locker room.
