The Seattle Seahawks have seemingly made their choice on who will be the team's backup quarterback to Russell Wilson. According to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, Seattle has waived quarterback Paxton Lynch.
As a result of Lynch's release, veteran Geno Smith has earned the backup quarterback job. However, the team could attempt to retain Lynch onto their practice squad if he clears waivers.
Since the beginning of training camp, Smith and Lynch have competed against one another to become the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. Both quarterbacks joined the roster this offseason in hopes of putting themselves in position to get closer to being a starter in the NFL again.
Before joining the Seahawks, Lynch was drafted by the Denver Broncos with the 26th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The expectations were high for Lynch, but the 6-foot-7 signal-caller only started in four games in his first two seasons. Lynch was released by the Broncos prior to the beginning of the 2018 season
Similarly to Lynch, Smith had lofty expectations as a starter with the New York Jets earlier in his career. After four disappointing seasons with the Jets, Smith has bounced around to three different teams since 2017.
The two underachieving quarterbacks received plenty of opportunities to prove themselves worthy of receiving the backup role over the course of the preseason. Smith completed 18 of his 34 attempts for 282 yards and two touchdowns. On the other hand, Lynch finished with 18 completions on his 37 attempts for 180 yards and a touchdown.
The competition likely came down to how each quarterback performed in Thursday's preseason finale against the Oakland Raiders. In the end, Smith had his best game of the preseason with 107 yards and two touchdowns while Lynch struggled mightily with just one completion for four yards.
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