Rival Could Poach Seahawks Quarterback, Says Insider

Pete Carroll

Getty Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

The San Francisco 49ers could add insult to injury after dominating the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. Following Trey Lance’s season-ending injury, the Niners are now in the market for adding a third quarterback as Jimmy Garoppolo steps back into his familiar QB1 role.

Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed views Seahawks veteran quarterback Sean Mannion as a potential candidate for San Francisco to add to their roster. Prior to the start of the season, the Seahawks signed Mannion to the team’s practice squad after releasing Jacob Eason. NFL rules allow for the 49ers or another team to sign Mannion to their active roster despite the signal-caller being on the Seahawks practice squad.

“San Francisco will need a third quarterback since 2022 seventh-round pick Brock Purdy is now Garoppolo’s lone backup,” Kyed wrote on September 19, 2022. “The 49ers released Sudfeld during roster cuts. He’s since latched onto the Detroit Lions’ 53-man roster as Jared Goff’s backup.

“The 49ers’ options include current free agents like Cam Newton and A.J. McCarron, trading for a player like Rudolph or signing a player off another team’s practice squad. They cannot sign quarterback Josh Johnson off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad since the two teams play next week, but Cleveland Browns practice squad quarterback Josh Rosen has a history in San Francisco, and the Green Bay Packers’ Danny Etling, the Seattle Seahawks’ Sean Mannion, the Minnesota Vikings’ David Blough and the New York Jets’ Chris Streveler play in similar offenses.”


Mannion Chose to Sign With the Seahawks Over the Vikings

Mannion had a brief stint with the Seahawks in 2021 before the team opted to release the veteran quarterback prior to finalizing the team’s 53-man roster. The signal-caller admitted he chose a return to Seattle over a “couple of different options,” including re-signing with Minnesota.

“Yeah, there was a couple of different options, that [returning to Vikings] was potentially one of them,” Mannion explained during a September 1 press conference. “But I had such a positive experience here, obviously, last year and the opportunity presented itself. It was a unique opportunity to come back to a system that I’m very familiar with and coaches that I feel like I worked really well with. Get to work with Geno [Smith] and Drew [Lock] and be close to home, be close to family and stuff like that.

“So, it was a unique opportunity. I loved my time in Minnesota. It’s hard moving on [after] three years there and loved all my teammates, loved all my coaches. It was a super positive experience for me, but I’m excited to be here.”


Could the Seahawks Make a Quarterback Change?

The Seahawks have their own quarterback dilemma as Geno Smith has struggled to create scoring drives since his hot Week 1 start against the Broncos. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll assessed Smith’s performance against the 49ers and admitted the team needs a bit more from their QB1. If the offense continues to stall, the whispers for Drew Lock are only going to get louder.

“He couldn’t get going,” Carroll said of Smith during his September 18 postgame press conference. “He couldn’t get started. He just couldn’t get rolling. Nothing worked, we didn’t do anything anywhere.

“I didn’t see him do anything that really took us out of the game. I thought he was going along with it, but we just needed to have a whole compliment of ball on both sides of the football, and it just wasn’t there.”