ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting Matt Hasselbeck and Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell spoke during the limited time the NFL lockout was lifted during the NFL Draft. Prior to that the general belief has been that Hasselbeck was likely going to walk as a free agent. Although it was only a limited conversation, this would seem to increase the likelihood that Hasselbeck returns to the Seahawks.
While Matt Hasselbeck is getting up there in age and is seeing his skills deteriorate, he would seem to represent the best option right now for the Seahawks. There are options via free agency and trades but until the lockout is lifted, those are not viable options. Outside of Hasselbeck they have Charlie Whitehurst and JP Losman. Not exactly the pick of the litter.
Entering this offseason, the Rams were the only team with basically no questions at quarterback thanks to Sam Bradford. Aside from the Seahawks mess, the 49ers had only David Carr under contract, and the Arizona Cardinals have John Skelton, Richard Bartell, and Derek Anderson. Try to control yourself.
The NFL Draft saw the 49ers move up to draft Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick and Jim Harbaugh has spent the last three months gushing about Alex Smith. Whether those are the best options long term remains to be seen, but the 49ers QB situation would appear to be set for the short term. The Seahawks now would appear to be looking at Matt Hasselbeck for another year as they did not draft a QB. The Cardinals did not draft a QB and are now apparently in the Kevin Kolb sweepstakes once those get going.
All in all, the NFC West quarterback crew is not exactly awe-inspiring. How would you rank out the QB situations across the division? As it currently stands, St. Louis has to be number one. I don't see a worthwhile argument otherwise. Beyond that, do the 49ers rank second just by virtue of having drafted Colin Kaepernick? We haven't seen him throw a single pass at the NFL level, but would you argue it's still better than the Arizona and Seattle QB "options" ?