The growing trend of NFL teams keeping their quarterbacks out of the preseason has reached the point where more than one-third of starting quarterbacks did not take a single snap in this year’s preseason.
The reasons were different for different teams: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Colts quarterback Daniel Jones are recovering from season-ending injuries. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson haven’t played in the preseason in years, across multiple coaching staffs. Rams coach Sean McVay is perhaps the most cautious coach in the league when it comes to avoiding preseason injuries, so of course reigning MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t play.
But the result is the same: If you’re tuning into a preseason game, you’re increasingly likely to see backup quarterbacks exclusively, and if you see a starter at all, it will typically only be for a series or two.
Here’s the full list of teams that didn’t play their starting quarterbacks at all this preseason, via Mike Reiss of ESPN:
Seahawks: Sam Darnold.
Patriots: Drake Maye.
Cowboys: Dak Prescott.
Ravens: Lamar Jackson.
Steelers: Aaron Rodgers.
Colts: Daniel Jones.
Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence.
Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes.
Eagles: Jalen Hurts.
Lions: Jared Goff.
Saints: Tyler Shough.
Rams: Matthew Stafford.
Seahawks Clips
The Seahawks have made it official.
Seattle announced the club has signed cornerback Terrion Arnold on Saturday.
Arnold is now expected to be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list. Arnold will be paid while on the list, but he will not be eligible to play.
Arnold, a Lions first-round pick in 2024, was waived in June after his arrest. He faces four felony counts each of armed robbery and kidnapping.
While the Seahawks struck an agreement with Arnold weeks ago, they waited until roster cuts to officially bring him on.
In 24 games over his first two seasons, Arnold has registered 18 passes defensed with one interception. It’s unclear when he will be available to play for Seattle now that he has joined the club.
As a corresponding move, Seattle waived offensive tackle Derrick Graham.
All rosters must be down to 53 players by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Every new NFL owner is largely an unwritten book, with the pages to be filled in one news item at a time.
For new Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla, chapter one relates to his admission that he was and remains a Steelers fan.
Khosla has bristled at the criticism of the relevant comments from his first press conference after the sale of the team was approved.
“Reporters will make every molehill into a mountain just to get column inches to write or video minutes,” Khosla said on Twitter. “What’s wrong with admitting my 1976-78 period in Pittsburgh (CMU) got me excited about the NFL? I still watch their games doesn’t mean I won’t unconditionally ALWAYS as owner, want the [Seahawks] to win and have every edge up, EVERY TIME over every other team!!!! Zero questions!!! At the other end is a set of teams I always want to lose every advantage. But happy to have the sports writer getting more column inches and fill their pages. You are welcome. Apologies in advance for my very transparent style.”
Khosla’s message appears over a reposting of a tweet from Barstool Sports with this observation: “What not to do during your opening press conference as the new Seahawks owner? Reveal you’ve been a Steelers fan your whole life and still watch all of their games.”
The reaction to Khosla’s comments was widespread. He chose to share the “little-known fact” while demonstrating his longstanding passion for football.
Of course he’s now fully aligned with the Seahawks. The point isn’t that he was a Steelers fan. It’s that he decided, without prompting, to tell the world that he was and still is a Steelers fan, and that he still watches all of their games.
“So, actually, I was originally, and still am, a big Steelers fan also — a little-known fact — but I still watch all the Steelers games, too.”
That’s what he said. No one put words in his mouth. No one was grilling him over the legitimacy of his commitment to the Seahawks, and no one is. The reaction came from the basic reality that it probably wasn’t the best thing to wear on his sleeve in the first press conference as the owner of the Seahawks.
And it wasn’t just, you know, the rest of the world that came to that conclusion. Watch the video. Khosla’s son, Neal, had just enough of a crack in his poker face to reveal that he was thinking something like, “Dad. Don’t.”
The strong reaction to the criticism now becomes the second chapter in the Book of Khosla. And the chapters will come one after another — especially since Khosla seems to be very active on social media.
At least he didn’t close with, “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
To this day, plenty of Seahawks fans believe the Super Bowl XL officials who were wearing black and white were secretly wearing black and yellow. One person openly wearing black and yellow during the game was new Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla.
On Wednesday, after the owners voted to approve the sale of the team to a group led by Khosla, the self-made billionaire made it clear that he was — and still is — a fan of the team that kept the Seahawks from winning their first NFL championship in early 2006.
“I also happened to come to this country in ’76 when the Steelers were winning Super Bowls,” Khosla told reporters on Wednesday. “So, actually, I was originally, and still am, a big Steelers fan also — a little-known fact — but I still watch all the Steelers games, too.”
Well, it’s no longer a little-known fact. And it’s not unprecedented. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, for example, was a long-time Giants fans before buying the Vikings; he once followed Lawrence Taylor to the men’s room to seek an autograph. (Wilf waited for Taylor to finish his business and emerge from the facilities.)
“I’ll always be, deep inside, a Giants fan,” Wilf said in November 2005, as the Vikings prepared to face the Giants. “I don’t think it ever goes away.”
For Khosla, the Seahawks and Steelers will square off in 2027. Unless, of course, they happen to cross paths in Super Bowl LXI.
Seattle has added an offensive lineman.
The Seahawks have claimed Kellen Diesch off of waivers from the Chiefs, according to the league’s daily transaction wire.
Diesch, 29, has bounced around since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He’s spent time with the Dolphins, Bears, Steelers, Browns, Patriots, Titans, and Chiefs.
He’s also played for the UFL’s Arlington Renegades, Memphis Showboats, Houston Gamblers, and Louisville Kings.
The Seahawks and Chiefs will play each other for their preseason finale on Friday.
Devon Witherspoon’s contract extension with the Seahawks has not closed the gap between the Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
The Patriots do not appear willing to go to the benchmark four-year, $132 million deal established by Witherspoon, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
“The Patriots haven’t gone there,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “They weren’t there before, and they don’t appear to be going there right now.”
Witherspoon and Gonzalez share the same agency, the Win Sports Group, so it’s unlikely the Patriots will sign Gonzalez to an extension without matching the deal the Seahawks corner received.
This week, Gonzalez expressed frustration with contract talks.
The season begins Sept. 9 with the Patriots and Gonzalez opposite the Seahawks and Witherspoon.
Gonzalez is scheduled to make a base salary of $2.259 million this season.
The 17th overall pick in 2023, he made second-team All-Pro in 2024 and the Pro Bowl in 2025. He has totaled 145 tackles, two interceptions, 24 pass breakups and a sack in three seasons.
Jalen Milroe will get plenty of playing time in Seattle’s preseason finale.
Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters in his Thursday press conference that Milroe will start and play the entire game on Friday night against the Chiefs. Macdonald does not plan to play the starters.
“I think it’s really great that he has an opportunity — just like the Green Bay [preseason] game last year — where you’re not subbing in, you’re not coming in at halftime,” Macdonald said. “You’re going through the whole process of starting a game and getting in rhythm, managing the situations — all those things we want from our quarterback.
“So, excited to see him play. It’s a great opportunity.”
So far this preseason, Milroe has completed 11-of-19 passes for 88 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also rushed for 52 yards on six attempts.
Macdonald mentioned Drew Lock will be ready to play if necessary.
Additionally, recent free-agent signee Trevon Diggs is set to get some playing time at cornerback in the preseason finale.
Kickoff between the Seahawks and Chiefs is slated for 8 p.m. ET on Friday.
The Seahawks are working to keep one of their defensive stars on the club into the future.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Seattle and defensive lineman Leonard Williams have agreed to a three-year extension.
Rapoport notes the deal is worth $90 million.
Williams, 32, was entering the last year of his contract with the Seahawks. He’s been with the club since midway through the 2023 season, playing 43 games. He’s recorded 22.0 sacks with 34 tackles for loss and 61 quarterback hits for Seattle.
Last season, Williams tallied 7.0 sacks, nine TFLs, and 22 QB hits in the regular season. He then had a sack, a tackle for loss, and three QB hits in three postseason games as Seattle won Super Bowl LX.
The No. 6 overall pick of the 2015 draft out of USC, Williams has recorded 61.5 career sacks with 93 TFLs and 223 QB hits for the Jets, Giants, and Seahawks.
Vinod Khosla, who was approved on Wednesday as the next owner of the Seattle Seahawks, says his expectation for the defending champions is more of the same.
“How often do you get to buy a franchise that has just won the Super Bowl, so we are incredibly lucky,” Khosla said. “The task ahead is actually pretty simple: Keep the winning streak alive, get another Super Bowl. That simple.”
Khosla said he and his family aren’t just investing in football as a business, but as a passion.
“We are huge fans of football, and these opportunities, especially Super Bowl-winning teams, seldom come along, so we were very excited to have the opportunity,” Khosla said. “We’ve been passionate about football for a long time.”
Khosla has been a minority owner of the 49ers, so he understands the business of the NFL, and he said he has been a Steelers fan since emigrating to the United States from India in 1976, choosing the Steelers because they were the best team in the NFL at the time.
“I still watch all the Steelers’ games,” Khosla said.
Now, Khosla joins the famous Seahawks fan base.
“I think it’s the best fan base in the country, of any NFL team. The 12s are such an iconic brand that it’s hard not to be honored and humbled by inheriting that and being part of that fan base,” Khosla said.
Asked about the future of Lumen Field and whether the Seahawks would renovate or build a new stadium, Khosla said it’s too early to discuss that, as he hasn’t even closed his deal to buy the team, but he sounded more interested in renovating the existing stadium than replacing it.
“Lumen Field is iconic and very much a part of the Seahawks brand,” Khosla said. “We will work with management and with others and the community in Seattle, to hopefully preserve this iconic brand.”
There’s a new sheriff in Seattle.
On Wednesday, the NFL’s owners approved the purchase of the Seahawks by a group led by Vinod Khosla. The vote was unanimous, and the price is a record at $9.612 billion.
The sale comes nearly eight years after the passing of Paul Allen, who bought the team in 1997 for $194 million. His sister, Jody, managed the team on behalf of his estate.
The team went on the market after the Super Bowl. It came after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Seahawks had been fined $5 million for noncompliance with ownership requirements. The NFL insisted no fine was imposed.
The truth was that the NFL deferred the fine in exchange for a commitment that the team would be promptly sold after the Super Bowl.
While the deal has not officially closed, it’s just a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
The Seahawks commence the regular season in two weeks, hosting the Patriots on the night the franchise hangs its second banner.
