Pete Carroll, like any coach should, is always going to put his players before the media.
This includes former players that played or left under hostile circumstances.
He simply doesn't bash anyone — not Richard Sherman, not Earl Thomas, and certainly not Russell Wilson. But Carroll's incessant positivity and good will for Seahawks past and present also means that, well, you can't always believe what he says.
Enter quarterback Drew Lock.
Lock was the QB — along with eye-popping draft capital — that the Broncos traded to Seattle in exchange for Wilson. He also is the quarterback that drew that signature optimism from Carroll and Seahawks general manager John Schneider during last Wednesday's news conference at the VMAC.
"Is this a second chance for Drew Lock? Heck yeah, it is. It's an absolute, clear second chance for him to show, to take us back to where we knew him to be," said Carroll, adding that the team was high on him heading into the 2019 draft. "It excites the heck out of us."
Does it, though? In 2020, Lock led the NFL in interceptions (15) despite playing just 13 games. Those picks went along with 16 touchdown passes and a passer rating of 75.4. He started just three games last season, going 0-3 in that stretch. In other words, if the Seahawks aren't rebuilding — as both Carroll and Schneider affirmed Wednesday — then they have to move away from Lock.
Enter Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield may not be the world-beater the Browns hoped he would be when they drafted him first overall in 2018. He took Cleveland to the playoffs just once and posted a passer rating of 83.1 last season.
A popular Twitter joke during Ben Roethlisberger's last game at Heinz Field — where Mayfield went 16 for 38 with two interceptions — was "looks like it's Baker Mayfield's last game at Heinz Field, too."
But Mayfield is better than Lock. And considering the Browns just traded for Pro Bowl QB Deshaun Watson, he wants out of Cleveland. And if the Seahawks don't want to punt on this season, they should go out and get him.
This doesn't mean it has to be forever. In fact, this may be the perfect stop-gap before the 2023 season. Mayfield is in the final year of his contract and would essentially be using his season in Seattle as an audition for the rest of the league. That's motivation right there — a chance to rediscover his 2020 form and earn the generational-wealth payday in 2023.
Makes a lot of sense for the Seahawks, too, who can A) re-sign Mayfield if he gets back to his winning ways, B) develop a potential franchise quarterback they select in the draft, or C) compete for a year and then try to land a true whale before the 2023 season.
Mayfield struggled last year, but he isn't a scrub. He threw for 26 touchdown passes against eight interceptions in 2020 while posting a passer rating of 95.9. That came two years after throwing 27 touchdowns against 14 picks two years earlier in his rookie season.
He's basically on one season, off the next, and if that pattern follows, would be due for another big year in 2022. He also offers a brash, funny, often savage personality that, frankly, we never got from Russell Wilson. I know, any fan will take a boring QB who delivers wins over a humorous one who doesn't. But Mayfield's weekly and postgame news conferences would be worth watching in a way Wilson's never were.
All of this is speculation, of course. Mayfield isn't a free agent. The Browns own his rights. And considering all the draft capital the Seahawks just got from Broncos in that Wilson trade, they're unlikely to part with too much to bring Mayfield in.
It's doubtful he makes them a playoff team. He certainly doesn't make them Super Bowl contenders. There are only a handful of QBs in the league who can lead their team to a championship in this pass-happy era, and unless Mayfield has a rare breakthrough in his fifth season, he isn't one of them.
At the same time, nobody wants to watch a 5-12 football team. It's hard to think that the Seahawks would do much better than that with Lock under center. Schneider said Wednesday that the media has been unnecessarily hard on Drew, but the performance has justified the criticism.
Carroll emphasized second chances on Wednesday, and the Seahawks are known for providing them. Lock may get one here — but Mayfield is the one that should.
