Seahawks Sign Austin Davis, Appear Far From Signing Kaepernick
By Ben Renner
The Seahawks signed journeyman backup quarterback Austin Davis today. They will presumably leave Colin Kaepernick on the free agency market.
The Seahawks signed former Rams quarterback Austin Davis today, presumably eschewing the services of Colin Kaepernick. So much for the Sign Kaepernick Council.
With Davis now in the fold, the Seahawks now have two faulty options behind their star (and possibly best in the league) quarterback Russell Wilson. With the move to ink Davis, they dropped undrafted free agent and local prospect Jake Heaps. That leaves Wilson, Davis, and incumbent backup Trevone Boykin on Pete Carroll’s quarterback depth chart.
Why Austin?
Austin was brought into camp to compete for a roster spot. Carroll and his staff didn’t appear ready to give the ball to Boykin at any point last season in spite of Wilson’s various injuries. It was no secret they could use some veteran help. That’s why Kaepernick appeared to be a good choice.
Austin has, shall we say, unimpressive career numbers in limited action with the Rams and Browns. He was most recently with the Denver Broncos, who released him last December. Overall, he’s started 10 games in his career in 13 games. He threw for 2548 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in his career, going 3-7 in his ten starts.
Those are backup numbers, for sure. One semi-bright spot (dim spot?) was his 2014 season with the Rams under Jeff Fisher. He started eight games, won three of them, and managed an 85.1 Quarterback Rating (and only a 50.3 QBR). He threw 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions while averaging seven yards per attempt.
No Kaepernick in a Seahawks Uniform
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Davis isn’t a high-quality backup. He hasn’t seen the field since he played in a few games for Cleveland in 2015, but he’s much cheaper than Kaepernick would have cost.
Contract cost is likely what scared the Seahawks away from Kap. He is better than most of the other backups in the league, and his price tag likely reflects that, even if his market value is depressed because of the league blackballing him.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says he has a source in the Seahawks locker room indicating that money wasn’t the issue. Florio instead hinted that Wilson’s special treatment, as reported in that pesky piece by Seth Wickersham on ESPN, caused Carroll to avoid pitting too much competition against him as the starting quarterback.
Carroll said Kaepernick is “a starter in this league,” which indicated to some that the Seahawks didn’t need another start-worthy quarterback competing against Wilson, especially after his treatment by management and his leadership has been questioned.
It sounds like hog’s swallow to me. Of course having a start-able quarterback behind Wilson is preferable to Boykin, but it seems more likely that Carroll and John Schneider didn’t want to commit borderline starter money for a backup. Money is usually the answer, not special treatment for the Golden Boy.