I think the ageism shots at Pete have been earned. Nothing wrong with it when it is true.
But that isn't the point of this thread. Pete is the coach. We are stuck with him. It was worth arguing he had no value and was now a bottom-half coach back then when the choice was Pete or Russ.
That choice is gone, and so there is no point focusing on it anymore. We are stuck with him. I am not anti-Pete, just consider him a waste of time/resources because there is no upside to him. He has little value now and has turned into a bottom half coach, though he does a good job against sub .500 teams so he will probably always at least be at .500 or a little above.
The point is how Lock fits.
If Lock is terrible, we replace him and ideally Pete. (probably not).
But if Lock is good or even great, we are going to be average. Pete gives you a high floor but a low ceiling.
Now, a more appropriate question is whether it makes sense to expect anything moving forwards?
We had a good run, were a top winning team for almost a decade, went into every game with a reasonable expectation we would win, and went into almost every season with a reasonable expectation we would make the playoffs. We also did go to 2 SBs and won 1. Who we can attribute the SBs and winning is up for debate but it was there. And since NFL means Not For Long, change is expected.
We are now a team that is no longer a top team, with a roster that is likely average or worse. There is no reason to expect exceptional production, so the question is whether it makes sense to demand it.
I don't think Lock is going to be bad enough to force change and I don't think he will be good enough to make us anything better than average. And I don't think Pete has anything to contribute that will make a big enough difference.
Pete being old or worthless now isn't the point. The point is whether Lock does anything for this team but delay the inevitable. And I suspect it delays things at least a year or 2, which is not ideal.