Were it not for the brilliant play of their defense and the surprising maturity of quarterback Bo Nix, the trade that sent quarterback Drew Lock from the Denver Broncos to the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 would have likely unspooled the franchise.
Now, 4 years later, both the Broncos and Lock are in completely different places. The Broncos have made the playoffs 2 consecutive seasons, including a No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs and a spot in the AFC Championship Game.
They also managed to weather the storm of cutting the central figure in the Lock trade, quarterback Russell Wilson, and enduring the 2 years and $85 million in dead cap space that came with it.
Lock, as the backup to Sam Darnold, is about to play in the Super Bowl for the first time on February 8 against the New England Patriots.
It’s all been quite a journey for both sides. Lock was a second round pick by the Broncos in the 2019 NFL draft and went 4-1 as the starter during his rookie season but went 4-9 and led the NFL with 15 interceptions in his lone season as the full-time starter in 2020.
Lock was beaten out for the starting role by Teddy Bridgewater in 2021 and went 0-3, precipitating his trade to the Seahawks.
“Four years after the Broncos tossed in the towel on a former second-round pick, four years after they shipped Lock off to Seattle in the Russell Wilson blockbuster, Lock has stuck it out long enough to experience his own kind of renewal,” The Denver Post’s Luca Evans wrote on Thursday. “He has thrown all of three passes in 2025 behind Darnold, the 2018 No. 3 pick who’s revitalized his career the past two seasons. But during Seattle’s run to a Super Bowl berth, a funny thing’s happened: pushing a reclamation project in Darnold has given Lock the confidence he can be reclaimed, too.”
Lock Got Massively Screwed Over by Giants
Lock spent 2 seasons as Geno Smith’s backup on the Seahawks before playing 1 season for the Giants in 2024, where by all rights he should have been the starter after Daniel Jones was released, but the Giants were more interested in tanking.
That was apparent when they decided to start third-stringer Tommy DeVito over Lock.
Faced with free agency again, Lock made the move to come back to Seattle and back up Darnold — a decision that’s put him on the brink of becoming a world champion.
From The Athletic: “Lock is the Seahawks’ second quarterback addition of the offseason. In March, they signed former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal. They also have former Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell on the roster.”
Decision to Start DeVito Over Lock Ridiculed
Lock couldn’t hide his confusion after getting passed over for DeVito but still managed to handle the situation with class.
“That’s a question that I might still have for myself,” Lock told the media after he was passed over to start. “It was expressed to me that I was going to be QB2. Interesting situation. Not much I can really say about it besides, again, I’m going to be here for him and we’re still communicating and still very good friends, believe it or not. I’m going to be here for him, the team needs to get a win and if we start winning everything will get a little better around here.”
Now, he can’t help but look back on being traded by the Broncos as a turning point in his career and life.
“There’s always the … you get traded, there’s a little animosity,” Lock told The Denver Post. “There’s not anymore. I feel like time has done the healing.”
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