Seahawks weigh one more deadline move as Drew Lock gets the start at Las Vegas

The Seattle Seahawks reach Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET trade deadline at 5-4, and they still have to decide whether to give up some future value to help this season. At SB Nation, Field Gulls' Terrance Robinson put the question plainly: push for a deal now, or stand pat with the current roster.

Wide receiver looks like the position to watch. Writing for Yahoo Sports, the outlet cited insider Jordan Schultz, who said "Seattle wants another receiver to complement [Smith-Njigba]." Jaxon Smith-Njigba is still producing at an elite level. The issue is the rest of the room, and a quarterback situation that has been unsettled for most of the year.

The quarterback picture is part of what makes the decision hard. Coach Mike Macdonald said Monday that Drew Lock will start again Sunday against the Raiders, giving Sam Darnold more time to recover from his injuries, ESPN reported. Lock isn't fully healthy either. Yahoo Sports' deadline tracker reported that he picked up an oblique injury in Sunday's win over Arizona and is also managing tendinitis in his throwing elbow. A bye follows the Las Vegas game, so Darnold could get two full weeks to heal before Seattle's next snap after this weekend.

All of that makes it harder to price a trade. A new receiver would catch passes from a backup who is playing hurt for at least one more game. Then the team would face the question of who starts at quarterback coming out of the bye.

What it means for Las Vegas

Seattle has gone back and forth all season. The Seahawks have not won or lost more than two straight. They beat Arizona 17-3 on Sunday a week after a 34-17 loss to Chicago, and before that they held Kansas City to three points in a 20-3 win. Over nine games they have outscored opponents 202-162, about 22.4 points for and 18.0 against per game. The defense carried the team in two of the last three wins. On the road they are 1-2, with one-score losses at Washington and Denver and a 31-7 win at Arizona.

The market makes Seattle the favorite. Across the 12 venues on this site's board, the Seahawks are favored by 3.5 points. Novig lists Seattle -3.5 at -104. The best price anywhere is theScore Bet at even money (+100) on the same number, so the venues are close. On the moneyline, Novig has Seattle at -174 and Las Vegas at +167, which works out to about a 63 percent chance of a Seattle win. That two-sided spread is tighter than the 3.1 to 4.7 percent hold at the sportsbooks. Novig's total is 43.5, with the over at -104. BetMGM has the best over price anywhere at -108 on a lower 43.

A field goal and a hook is a lot to give a road team starting an injured backup quarterback. Seattle's defense, though, has allowed three points in two of its last three games. Any deadline move would mostly pay off after the bye, but Sunday's game decides whether the Seahawks go into that week above .500 or back at even. The season lines are on the Seahawks team page.