Seattle’s aggressive push to obtain Charlie Whitehurst ranks as the biggest gamble of the offseason.
The Seahawks gave up a valuable pick and $5 million-per-season for a quarterback with no career passing attempts. Now that the dust has settled, more questions emerge:
What about Matt Hasselbeck?
The Seahawks have strongly supported Hasselbeck as the team’s starter until now. He’s due $5.75 million in 2010, the final year of his contract. Assuming Hasselbeck remains on the team, he’s going to have to keep the Seahawks in playoff contention to stay on the field. The Seahawks didn’t give up this much for Whitehurst to keep him on the bench.
What about Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen?
This move would seemingly eliminate the Seahawks from contention to take a quarterback with one of their two first-round picks, but it can’t totally be ruled out.
The Seahawks could conceivably still draft Clausen, get rid of Hasselbeck, and open the season with Whitehurst under center.
How good is Charlie Whitehurst?
Only Norv Turner knows. Whitehurst, a third-round pick in 2006, hasn’t thrown a pass in the NFL. He couldn’t get past Billy Volek on the Chargers depth chart. He must be getting some good references.
What about the Eagles quarterbacks?
This certainly won’t lower Philadelphia’s asking price for their three quarterbacks. Still, it eliminates another team from possibly going after one of them. It’s very difficult to find a team that remains a good fit for Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb.
And it’s even harder to imagine a team giving up anything for Vick at all.