With Seahawks training camp kicking off next week, Seahawks.com is counting down, in no particular order, 10 of the most intriguing storylines, position battles and players heading into the 2025 season. So far, we've looked at the return game, tight end, safety, the running game, linebacker, receiver, cornerback, offensive line and the defensive front, and today we wrap thigs up with a look at an all-new quarterback group.

Key Quarterback Additions: Sam Darnold (free-agent signing), Drew Lock (free-agent signing), Jalen Milroe (third-round pick).

Key Quarterback Departures: Geno Smith (traded to Raiders), Sam Howell (traded to Vikings), Jaren Hall (released).

The Seahawks didn't go into the offseason intending to completely overhaul their roster at the most important position in the game, but that's how things turned out, making quarterback a very intriguing position to watch as training camp and the preseason unfolds.

Seattle's initial plan, as general manager and president of football operations John Schneider explained, was to work with three-year starter Geno Smith on an extension, but when, as Schneider but it, "it became apparent we weren't going to be able to get a deal done," the Seahawks instead pivoted, trading Smith to the Raiders, and doing so quickly in order to position themselves to sign Pro Bowl quarterback Sam Darnold when free agency began.

The trade of Smith and signing of Darnold allowed the Seahawks to replace one Pro-Bowl passer with another, while also getting younger and less expensive at the position and adding a third-round pick that would eventually also be used to bolster their quarterback depth when the Seahawks selected Alabama's Jalen Milroe. It also helped that Darnold had worked with new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak in San Francisco two years earlier, and that the offense he thrived in with the Vikings shares a lot of the same Shanahan West Coast Offense roots as the one Kubiak is bringing with him to Seattle.

"It worked out great," Schneider said not long after Darnold signed. "Having Klint with him (in San Francisco), having the background with him, and all of the connections we have around the league with guys that have coached him, Scott Fitterer and Dan (Morgan) being with him in Carolina as well, talking about the character. And how much we studied him over the years, watching his growth. And personally being able to be around guys that have kind of hit it later in their careers like Rich Gannon and Matt Hasselbeck and Geno as of late, you watch that progression, you watch the work ethic, the character of the person, the scheme fits, and it worked out perfectly.

"Guys that have that experience, go through tough times, and then overcome it, those are the guys you want to cling onto."

The Seahawks later signed Drew Lock, bringing him back to Seattle after a year with the Giants, giving them a backup with considerable starting experience, then used the third-rounder acquired in the Smith trade to add Milroe, a quarterback who brings a very intriguing combination of big arm, athleticism, smarts and work ethic to the position. And with those moves, as well as a draft-day trade to send Sam Howell, last year's backup, to Minnesota, the Seahawks completely overhauled the position group in just over a month.

So with those moves, of course, all eyes will be on Darnold, and really on a new look offense as a whole, as the 2025 season approaches. It will take some time for Darnold and the offense to get fully dialed in, but even in the early stages, he was checking off a lot of boxes the coaching staff wanted to see as the Seahawks went through their offseason workout program.

"Sam is doing a great job," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said during last month's minicamp. "Sam is a great feel for the offense right now in terms of growing every day. So you can feel the growth. You can feel the improvement, the confidence that we're doing on that side of the ball and that we're growing. It's exciting to work with. He's a heck of a competitor. You know, this time of the year it's hard with all the competition periods, you're trying to create a bunch of situations where there's technically no winner or loser, but you are trying to just try to get great situational work where you're making great decisions, and we're doing that on both sides. Those are fun periods when you feel his competitiveness, and really all three quarterbacks you feel the competitiveness and the sense of improvement every day.

"The thing you love about Sam is he is just a dude, man. He's like one of the guys. There's a sense that he's one of the guys, so he's right there with them in all the things, but that's him. There is some shit to him. Don't mess with him. He's got that edge to him, that competitiveness, and the guys respect that. But he's him. He's not trying to be anybody else, and you have to respect that about him."

While Darnold is the clear starter, the Seahawks also really like what they have behind him in Lock and Milroe. Lock, a former second-round pick of the Broncos who spent two seasons in Seattle after arriving as part of the Russell Wilson trade, has started 28 games in his career, including five for the Giants, giving the Seahawks a nice combination of talent and experience behind Darnold. Milroe, meanwhile, has tremendous upside and, even if he isn't fighting for a starting job as a rookie, should factor into the offense in certain packages that can take advantage of his rare traits.

"Jalen is going to be right there with everybody else," Macdonald said after Milroe was drafted. "Sam is going to take by far and away over 90 percent of our snaps this year. However, Jalen deserves and earns the right to go out there, then we'll do that. If it's going to help the team, and (it's the best way) for us to move the ball, give these defensive coordinators some headaches, which I'm really happy it's not going to be us, that's awesome. I don't want to put a timetable on it. It's not an immediate need for him to go out there and be taking a bunch of snaps for us initially.

"Quarterbacks that extend the play are incredibly difficult to defend. The worst feeling in the world is you play the first play of the play perfectly on defense, you defend it. 'All right, sweet. We did it.' Then the guy still has the ball. You've got to defend the next play, sometimes a third play. He can kill you in the first play, the second play, the third play. It's not a fun existence to live consistently. He has that ability."

The Seahawks have a lot of faith in their defense after a strong finish to last season, and the plan is to have a balanced, physical offense that can run the ball frequently and with success, but the reality of the NFL is that every team's fates are tied at least in part to quarterback play. And while the Seahawks look a lot different at that position than they did a few months ago, they're excited about what that group, starting with Darnold, can accomplish this season.