The Seattle Seahawks moved quickly to reinforce their quarterback room after Sam Darnold suffered a quad injury that will keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Seahawks have announced they have signed Adrian Martinez to the practice squad, adding another layer of depth behind Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe while Darnold remains week to week.
Coach Mike Macdonald confirmed Darnold will not be placed on injured reserve after the injury occurred late in Monday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears, leaving Seattle’s plans for the immediate future in flux.
Martinez arrives as a familiar developmental option with ties to the kind of offense the Seahawks run. The 26-year-old went undrafted out of Kansas State in 2023 after a college career that began at Nebraska.
He started 47 games across those two programs, completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 9,752 yards with 51 touchdowns and 31 interceptions.
His dual-threat ability stood out just as much, as he rushed for 2,928 yards and 45 touchdowns, giving him a skill set that could translate in certain packages if Seattle needs to get creative while Darnold recovers.
His professional path has been unconventional.
After a brief stint with the Detroit Lions that ended before the regular season began, Martinez joined the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League.
There he thrived, earning league MVP honors along with championship game MVP recognition. That success opened doors back to the NFL, where he spent time with the New York Jets and most recently the San Francisco 49ers.
He appeared in one game for San Francisco last season, and that experience may prove useful in Seattle.
Both the team’s previous offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, and current coordinator Brian Fleury previously worked under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, so the schematic similarities could shorten Martinez’s learning curve on the practice squad.
With Lock still managing an elbow issue that kept him inactive in recent weeks and Milroe still early in his development, Martinez gives the Seahawks an extra body who has started meaningful games at the professional level.
The signing is not a dramatic roster overhaul, but it reflects the practical steps teams take when their starter is sidelined and the backup room carries its own questions.
For now, Martinez will work in practice while Seattle prepares for Arizona without Darnold, hoping the added depth proves unnecessary if the injury timeline stays short.
