Seahawks coach Pete Carroll chats it up with Brian Banks after his tryout (Associated Press)

The Seahawks have three quarterbacks, and as the old saying goes, if you have three, you have none. Or something like that. I may have butchered it, but you get the idea. If you don’t have a clear starter, you don’t have any quarterbacks.

Given the offseason acquisition of ex-Packers free agent Matt Flynn, the drafting of Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson, and the fact that incumbent Tarvaris Jackson hasn’t distinguished himself beyond showing toughness — it’s been a battle. With this portion of the offseason nearly over, Carroll hasn’t decided on a starter.

Really, I was intrigued with how he described the competition. As our buddy Brian McIntyre told us, Carroll said, “Draft picks and money and stuff like that is not going to play in the decision at all.” To which I say…

Thank goodness. And, Seahawks peeps better hope he’s telling the truth. They better hope Carroll has his blinders on once his QBs step on the field so he can make a decision.

I remember Patriots assistant Pepper Johnson listening to me talk about a rookie on his team, only to cut me off when I said what round the prospect was drafted in. Johnson didn’t care. He didn’t want to know. He wanted to judge a player based on what he saw, not on how he got there.

That’s how a defensive tackle nobody wanted, Kyle Love, ended up starting alongside Pro Bowler Vince Wilfork in the Super Bowl, while high-priced Albert Haynesworth was sent packing. Base it on production. It was exactly what coach Bill Belichick told me about how he overhauled the Patriots roster in 2011 (check out the second quote).

The Seahawks have invested a TON in their quarterbacks, just trying like crazy to get a signal-caller who can be their guy. They could be a pretty good team (playoffs?) if they get consistent QB play. And so, in Jackson, they’ve invested a full season worth of time. In Flynn, they’ve invested $10-million guaranteed. In Wilson, they’ve invested a third-round draft pick. A lot for each.

That’s already gone. It’s already lost. Either way, Carroll will be wasting resources to pick someone else as his quarterback. That’s fine. That’s good. Pick the best guy and live with, either way, tossing something else down the drain.

It’s like insurance. The best we can all hope is that we waste insurance money, pumping it into a fund we never use. Man, I hope my car insurance stays right where it is, I never pull from it, and I have no problems (if wishing made it so…).

Carroll hedged his bets. If he hits it big, he’ll simply lose what he put in to cover himself. At the QB position, he’s guaranteed to lose something. That’s why he has the right outlook.

Forget where the guys came from, forget how much you paid, forget how you had to lure Flynn to Seattle or that you stuck your neck out for Wilson and his height-challenged ways or that Jackson showed such insane toughness down the stretch. Pick the best guy and don’t care about anything else.

This is in Carroll’s DNA, as Jeff Simmons pointed out. He was cool with K.J. Wright getting snaps over highly drafted Aaron Curry, for instance. As USC, he seemed to encourage freshmen to compete with seniors, then he’d simply choose.

That’s what Carroll says he’ll do. For the sake of the Seahawks, I hope he’s telling the truth.

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