Getty The Seahawks could enter the season with just two quarterbacks -- leaving P.J. Walker as the odd man out.
The Seattle Seahawks could very well enter another season with just two quarterbacks on their roster.
According to a prediction on the 53-man roster from SB Nation Field Gulls’ Mookie Alexander, he expects the Seahawks to cut P.J. Walker before the season starts. The veteran quarterback was signed shortly before the start of the team’s mandatory minicamp on June 10.
If the projection holds true, the Seahawks would enter the season with only Geno Smith and Sam Howell as their two starting quarterbacks. That is actually similar to the personnel they went with last season, featuring Smith as the starting quarterback and previous backup Drew Lock, as their two passers on the roster.
P.J. Walker Carved out NFL Career After Successful Stint in XFL
The 29-year-old Walker is a journeyman backup quarterback who has seen a decent clip of playing time since making his first start with the Carolina Panthers during the 2020 season. Walker has appeared in 21 games with nine starts and has gone 5-4 during his career in stints with the Panthers and the Cleveland Browns. He also began his career as an undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts back in 2017.
During his NFL career, the 5-foot-11 Walker has thrown six touchdowns against 16 interceptions for 2,135 passing yards and a 54.6% completion rate. The most notable play of his career was when he recorded a total distance throw of 67.6 yards for a touchdown — the longest air-distanced completion in the NFL Next Gen Stats era since 2016 — against the Atlanta Falcons during the 2022 season.
Most notably, however, is Walker’s stint in the XFL. During his five-game stint in the XFL in 2020 — the season was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic — Walker threw 15 touchdowns against four interceptions for a 104.4 passer rating. He led the league in both passing touchdowns and yards while leading the Houston Roughnecks to a 5-0 record.
During the 2023 season with the Browns, Walker went 1-1 while throwing just one touchdown against five interceptions for a 52.2 passer rating and 48.6% completion rate.
His final start of the season actually came during a 24-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8 in which Walker threw a game-changing interception with 1:57 remaining in the fourth quarter and Cleveland holding a 20-17 lead. The interception eventually resulted in Geno Smith throwing the game-winning touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining.
Seahawks Planning to Utilize Dre’Mont Jones’ Versatility
New Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald has big plans for Dre’Mont Jones.
Although the 27-year-old defensive end didn’t produce eye-popping sack numbers — he racked up 4.5 sacks a year after posting 6.5 sacks with the Denver Broncos — he did post career-high numbers in tackles (49) and quarterback hits (12).
Knowing the type of versatility that he has in Jones, Macdonald plans to use him in a variety of positions along the defensive line.
“I think his skill set lends to trying to play a little matchup ball with him or setting another guy up,” Macdonald said after minicamp, via ESPN’s Brady Henderson. “He can do a lot of things. We’ve talked about it, but we’re really excited about Dre’Mont.”
Macdonald mentioned moving Jones around during pre-snap formations to confuse the opposing offense.
“It makes it harder for the offense to study us knowing that they may see Dre’Mont at a five-technique on film, and then when we line up and play against them, he’s probably going to be playing zero- or three-technique,” says Macdonald. “So it’s harder for an offense to scheme against one specific player because we move around so much.”