After trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this offseason, the Seattle Seahawks signed Sam Darnold and Drew Lock to be their starting quarterback and backup, respectively.
Then, Seattle traded Sam Howell during the 2025 NFL draft and used a third-round pick (No. 92 overall) on Jalen Milroe to be their third-string quarterback.
Milroe, 22, joined the Seahawks this offseason after a collegiate career at Alabama, where he started as Bryce Young’s backup and took over as the starter over the last two seasons.
In 38 games with the Crimson Tide, Milroe completed 64.3% of his passes for 6,016 yards, 45 touchdowns and 20 interceptions while adding another 1,577 yards and 33 scores on the ground. He also earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2023.
According to those in attendance, Milroe had his best two passing days during Seattle’s recent mandatory minicamp, which should set him up well to compete for the backup job in training camp.
On Wednesday, the rookie threw four touchdowns in six plays during a seven-on-seven red-zone scrimmage.
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“You see the poise, the fundamental stuff that we’re asking, footwork and timing and reads,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said of Milroe. “But you don’t just do that by showing up every day. You have to be intentional and on record with his work ethic and stuff. That’s really impressive. He’s earned kind of that feeling of confidence right now. He’s earned that feeling going into the summer.”
Milroe is clearly putting in the work it takes to be a successful quarterback in the NFL, with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak recently revealing that the rookie has been on the field at 4:30 a.m. going through plays.
If Milroe keeps up this effort through training camp, there’s a chance he beats out Lock as Darnold’s backup in 2025, and who knows, if the starter struggles as he has for most of his career, the third-round pick could be asked to lead the offense at some point in the future.
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