After long wait, Tarvaris Jackson glad to be back with Seahawks

Tarvaris Jackson called it an “awkward” feeling to be without a job so late into the offseason. Instead of taking part in voluntary workouts, he spent May and the first week of June at home weighing his options, saying he hoped all along that he would end up back in Seattle.

“I had other teams calling,” Jackson said when he joined “Bob, Groz and Tom” last week. “More so at the end I had a team that it was kinda close, to be honest. I wanted to come back here.”

That became a reality earlier this month when the two sides agreed to terms on a contract that is reportedly for one year and worth $1.5 million, which amounts to a $250,000 raise from what Jackson made last season.

This will be Jackson’s fourth season in Seattle. He was the Seahawks’ starter in 2011 then was traded the following summer to Buffalo, which released him after one season. Jackson has spent the past two years as Russell Wilson’s backup, but unlike last year when he re-signed in March, it took a while for this deal to get done.

Jackson said he heard from teammates who were concerned that he wouldn’t be back. He said he got a text from quarterbacks coach Carl Smith telling him he was missed.

“It was like I never left when I came back into the meeting room,” Jackson said.

Seattle’s depth at quarterback was a potential concern before Jackson’s return. With B.J. Daniels primarily being used as a wide receiver recently, the only quarterback on the Seahawks’ roster other than Wilson had been R.J. Archer, who has never appeared in a regular-season game.

Jackson is considered one of the league’s better backup quarterbacks, and the Seahawks have been fortunate that they haven’t had to put that reputation to the test the last two years. Wilson hasn’t missed a snap due to an in injury, which has left Jackson to make only a handful of appearances in the closing minutes of blowout victories. Jackson didn’t play in a regular-season game during his lone season in Buffalo, either, which means he hasn’t thrown a meaningful pass since 2011.

As with any backup quarterback, Seattle’s hope is that he won’t have to this year. But Jackson said he’ll be ready if he’s needed.

“I’ve been doing it for a while. It’s really no pressure when you’re coming off the bench, I say. Nobody really expects you to do anything. But in my situation, I feel like my teammates, they know that if I get my number called that I’ll be ready to play. That’s one of the reasons why they wanted me to come back up here. The guys respect me so much because they know when my time comes or if my number is called, I’ll be ready to play.”