With Sam Darnold dealing with a glute injury that will likely sideline him for the “short-term”, the Seattle Seahawks may not need to go looking for other starting quarterback options. However, there have been reports that Darnold may be out a little longer. One report from Mike Florio even mentioned that Darnold could be out 4-6 weeks. Regardless of the timeline, Seattle looks to only have two healthy quarterbacks for the time being. That raises the question of whether the Seahawks should look for other quarterback options,
not necessarily to start – Drew Lock is likely your best bet there – but rather to add depth to the room.
Counting the practice squad, John Schneider has often had three quarterbacks in the room. The third quarterback was usually your practice squad type (Alex McGough, Brett Rypien, Jaren Hall, Holton Ahlers, Sean Mannion, John Rhys Plumlee). More recently the third quarterback, Jalen Milroe, has had to be rostered due to the likelihood of him being plucked off waivers if waived.
Now, with Darnold’s injury, could Schneider look to add another quarterback for temporary depth to the room? Perhaps another quarterback could come in and be Drew Lock’s primary backup, in case the Seahawks are not comfortable with Milroe being one snap away from taking legitimate NFL quarterbacks snaps in a game. With that, let’s take a look at a few options the Seahawks could look at for the quarterback position.
Jake Retzlaff
This first name may not look familiar to many fans, unless you were watching lots of AAC college football over the years. Retzlaff, an undrafted rookie out of Tulane was the biggest quarterback name that was at the Seahawks 2026 Rookie Minicamp. The tryout did not end up in a contract for Retzlaff. However, Seattle often will keep their eyes on the tryout players before bringing them back later in the season if injuries or other circumstances necessitate it. In his final college season at Tulane, Retzlaff completed 61% of his passes his final year at Tulane, throwing for 3,168 yards, 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. However, Retzlaff is also a dual threat quarterback, rushing for 634 yards and 16 touchdowns that final season alone. Retzlaff could potentially be a third quarterback option behind Milroe if Seattle feels the need to have another quarterback in the room.
Josh Johnson
The complete opposite of an undrafted rookie free agent, is Josh Johnson. Johnson is a 19-year NFL veteran quarterback who has played for seemingly half of the NFL, played in the United Football League, the XFL, and was even the first overall pick in the now defunct Alliance of American Football League . One team he has not played for however – the Seahawks. Adding Johnson would be like adding another coach to the quarterback room. Johnson throughout his career has been a backup or third string quarterback who only went into games in emergency situations – remember the 2022 NFC Championship game where Brock Purdy got hurt? Johnson was the quarterback who played in relief of Purdy.
More recently Johnson started two games for the Washington Commanders in 2025. In those two games, he completed 63% of his passes,throwing for 372 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Johnson is currently on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. Meaning the Seahawks would have to sign him to the 53-man roster to get him to the team. The Seahawks making a move like this would be a sign that Darnold’s injury may be longer term than originally thought. However, Johnson would not be a bad veteran option to help backup Lock and potentially Milroe as well. An added fun fact – Johnson is first cousins, and close childhood friends with Marshawn Lynch.
Jake Browning
A more familiar name to those in the Pacific Northwest is former Washington Huskies quarterback, Jake Browning. Browning signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2019. His first real game action did not come until 2023 with the Bengals. Browning started seven games that season in place of injured Joe Burrow, going 4-3 during that time. Browning impressed in his limited time. He completed 70.4% of his passes, throwing for 1,936 yards, 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. However, since then Browning has not been able to replicate the 2023 season.
Last season when Burrow got hurt again, Browning struggled mightily. This led to the Bengals trading for Joe Flacco, positioning Browning on the outs with the organization. Browning signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason, however did not make the roster and is currently a free agent. The Seahawks could look to bring Browning back to the pacific northwest on the practice squad. Despite a lackluster last few years, Browning has real game experience and could be a backup option to Lock if the team is not comfortable with Milroe starting just yet.
Brandon Allen
One last free agent that could be an option is Brandon Allen, another longtime backup quarterback. However, Allen has one thing the other options above do not. He has worked with Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury in the past. Along with his many NFL stops, Allen was with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 and 2024. Although Fleury was the tight ends coach with the 49ers at this time, the two surely are familiar with each other more so than others on this list. Allen is currently in his eleventh season in the NFL, but has only started ten games during that time. His most recent start came in 2024 with Fleury and the 49ers. In that game, Allen completed 56.7% of his passes, throwing for 199 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. More recently, Allen spent 2025 with the Tennessee Titans before signing with the New York Giants this offseason. Allen was cut by the Giants during final roster cuts and is currently free to sign with anyone.
Of the options above, there clearly are not that many that create much excitement. Unless Seattle looks to trade for a backup option (Tanner McKee, Anthony Richardson, etc), these are the options the team is left with. The best news the team can have is that Darnold will be back sooner than later, and that any quarterback they need to bring in (if any) are simply for depth, and not with the goal of them playing any meaningful snaps.
