Seahawks Bring in 18-TD QB Coming off Award-Winning Season

Getty The Seahawks brought in QB Adrian Martinez for a workout.

The Seattle Seahawks are taking a look at a quarterback coming off of a very notable season.

As reported by Aaron Wilson of KPRC Houston, the Seahawks worked out quarterback Adrian Martinez — among other players — on Monday, July 22. Martinez went undrafted in 2023 after starting during his entire collegiate career with the Nebraska Cornhuskers (2018-2021) and the Kansas State Wildcats (2022).

“Seahawks worked out Devin Carter, Adrian Martinez, Jesse Matthews and Jalen Sundel,” writes Wilson.

Adrian Martinez Won Every Major UFL Honor During 2024 Season

The 24-year-old Martinez more recently spent the spring playing the 2024 season in the UFL, where he was the league’s best player. The 6-foot-2 Martinez not only won league MVP honors, he also led the Birmingham Stallions to a championship, was named to the All-UFL team and also won UFL Championship MVP.

Martinez completed the 10-game season — he started seven of them — passing for 15 touchdowns against three interceptions to go along with a league-leading 528 rushing yards (on 9.7 yards per attempt) and three rushing touchdowns.

The Cornhuskers alum spent the 2023 preseason with the Detroit Lions before he was cut prior to the start of the season.

Adrian Martinez Was Highly Touted, But Underperformed in College

During Martinez’s collegiate career, he became the first true freshman quarterback ever to begin a season as the starting quarterback when he did so in 2018. He actually started during all four of his years with the Cornhuskers, starting 38 of his 39 career appearances. Martinez was highly touted before his sophomore season in 2019, entering the season with the third-best odds of winning the Heisman Trophy, along the likes of future NFL star quarterbacks such as Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields.

However, he never lived up to those odds; he threw just 10 touchdowns against nine interceptions while leading the Cornhuskers to a disappointing 5-7 record during the 2019 season. He failed to post a winning record during all four of his seasons at Nebraska, going 14-24 as a starter. During his lone season at Kansas State, he had his most success as a collegiate starter, going 6-3 while splitting time with Will Howard. He threw six touchdowns against just one interception while rushing for 10 touchdowns and 627 yards on 5.6 yards per carry.

The Seahawks currently have three quarterbacks on their depth chart, with starter Geno Smith, trade acquisition Sam Howell and free agent signing PJ Walker rounding out the depth chart. Howell was acquired via trade from the Washington Commanders early on in the offseason before the draft, while Walker was signed in June just before the team’s mandatory minicamp.

Smith obviously isn’t going anywhere, while Howell is essentially locked in as the backup. Even Walker — who has started multiple games in the NFL — isn’t a lock to make the 53-man roster.

If Martinez were to sign, he’d face an uphill in making the roster. More than anything, he would likely be used as a camp arm, with a chance of making it onto the practice squad. It’s worth noting that Seattle only kept two quarterbacks on its roster last season in Smith and Lock. However, that was with the previous coaching regime led by Pete Carroll. With first-year head coach Mike Macdonald leading the way, the Seahawks may be inclined to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.