Q&A series: We take a look at some big questions about the Seahawks’ salary cap situation and roster.
Today’s question: Instead of paying big money to Geno Smith, should the Seahawks draft a QB or go with Drew Lock and use cap space on other positions?
There remains a subset of fans and media who think the formula for winning the Super Bowl is a quarterback on a rookie contract and a team built around that player.
The main data point for their argument is the fact that no team has won a Super Bowl with a QB who has taken up more than 13.1% of the team’s salary cap. Russell Wilson, a former third-round pick with a cap hit of $681,000 when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, is the bellwether for that theory.
The fact is that, in the salary cap era (1994 to now), 75% of the time the Super Bowl-winning QB has been in the top three in team cap percentage, according to a 2022 study by Bookies.com. Three QBs on rookie deals have won it in the past 11 years, but most of the winners fell in the range of 10.6% to 12.3% of team cap.
In other words, there is no rhyme or reason to the trend.
If the Chiefs beat the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, Patrick Mahomes will become the first QB over 13.1% (Steve Young in 1994) to win it. Mahomes took up 17.2% of the Chiefs’ cap this season.
Continue reading Smith a better value than top-five QB in 2023
Tedric Thompson has an unusual chest condition that 
“If you’re going to be worth anything come playoff time, you’re going to have to beat a team like this.” — Pete Carroll to 710 ESPN, on facing Kansas City on Sunday night.
It sounds like the Seahawks are indeed in full QB dangle mode.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 