It was announced last week that the Seattle Seahawks would be bringing in former Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch on a futures deal.
Russell Wilson was the only quarterback signed to the Seahawks roster for next season prior to the team adding Lynch. Seattle’s second-string quarterback last season, Brett Hundley, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Alex McGough, who spent the entirety of last season on the Seahawks’ practice squad, signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
Paxton Lynch was selected 26th overall back in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. During the draft process, he was compared to Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota. Denver landed Lynch on a draft-day deal with the Seahawks, in which Seattle traded the 26th overall pick to the Broncos for the 31st and 94th selections.
Seattle used the 31st pick on guard Germain Ifedi and the 94th pick on tight end Nick Vannett. Lynch was the third of 15 quarterbacks selected in the 2016 draft, behind only Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams and Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Lynch did not live up to his first-round expectations during his time with Denver. Following Peyton Manning’s retirement, Denver had a training camp quarterback competition between Lynch and Mark Sanchez (acquired from the Eagles that offseason), as well as second-year player Trevor Siemian.
Siemian was named the starting quarterback for the 2016-2017 season, Lynch became the backup, and Sanchez was cut. Lynch started two games and played in three total. In those three games, he completed 49 passes for 497 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.
In the 2017-2018 season, Siemian once again won the starting job. Lynch was inactive for the first ten games of the season with a shoulder injury. Both Siemian and Brock Osweiler struggled over the course of the season, and Lynch replaced them as the starter in Week 12 against the Oakland Raiders.
However, he suffered an injury in that game and only returned for the season finale, against the Kansas City Chiefs. His stats were not as impressive as the previous season, as he completed 30 passes for 295 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
In September 2018, the Broncos released Lynch, the University of Memphis product and a former first-round draft pick. He spent this past season unemployed, and now will be joining the Seahawks.
The Seahawks and their fans will hope that Lynch’s performance will not be as underwhelming as it was in Denver, in case he has to play in the event of Russell Wilson being out. Seattle could carry only two quarterbacks this season, Wilson and Lynch, or they could add a third in the offseason. Of course, Lynch is not expected to be a lock on making the team, and will likely have to work hard to gain the roster spot.
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