For the second time in his tenure, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider is taking a shot at signing a free agent quarterback to a three-year contract.
The first chance came a long time ago when the Seahawks decided to make Matt Flynn their QB of the future signing him to a three-year deal during the 2012 offseason. He never started a game while wearing a Seahawks uniform thanks to the emergence of a third-round draft pick that same year: Russell Wilson.
And we all remember how that played out.
Schneider and the Seahawks dipped their toe back into the quarterback free agency pool on Monday agreeing to a three-year, $100.5 million deal with Sam Darnold coming off a resurgent season with Minnesota.
The Seahawks ultimately chose less money and less experience by trading Geno Smith to Las Vegas and signing the 27-year-old Darnold. But it’s a move that could be fraught with concern if Schneider and the rest of the Seahawks front office fails to improve the roster around their new starting QB, especially with the known worries on the offensive line and now the lack of depth at wide receiver following the release of Tyler Lockett and trade of DK Metcalf to Pittsburgh.
Coming out of college at USC the expectation was Darnold would become a franchise quarterback. It just took several stops along the way for it to actually happen.
Familiar path
In some ways, there are clear parallels between the paths of Darnold and Smith, just at different points of their careers.
Both were drafted by the New York Jets — Smith was taken 39th overall; Darnold was the third overall pick in 2018. Both had stretches of success with the Jets but each had mostly forgettable tenures in New York for a variety of reasons.
Both bounced around to various other stops in their career journey before finding situations that allowed each to thrive. Smith proved he could still be a starter in the league when he took over for Wilson with the Seahawks; Darnold stepped in and starred last season with the Vikings after rookie J.J. McCarthy was lost in preseason because of a knee injury.
Darnold threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns last season as the Vikings went 14-3 in the regular season. He looked again like the quarterback at USC that led the Pac-12 with 4,143 yards passing his final season for the Trojans.
The fit
Darnold will be walking into a system that will look, feel and sound familiar. And that may be the biggest factor in the marriage.
Darnold’s move will reunite him with new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. The two worked together during the 2023 season when Darnold was a backup in San Francisco and Kubiak was working as the passing game coordinator for the 49ers. Darnold was almost exclusively the backup to Brock Purdy during his one season in San Francisco, but did get the chance to start the 2023 regular season finale.
While it’s not a mirror system, there are similarities between the system Kubiak is expected to bring the Seahawks and the one Darnold thrived under last season with the Vikings and their offensive guru head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Upsides and concerns
There appears to be an equal amount of upside and worry about Darnold’s deal and how he may fit with the Seahawks.
The upside is a contract that on average comes in at less than $35 million per season for the three years and a guarantee of $55 million that is more than manageable in the context of the other needs the Seahawks have within their salary-cap situation.
It’s also a contract that would seem to give flexibility to both sides. If Darnold is a star, the sides can revisit an extension, probably after the second season. If Darnold is a bust, the likely structure of the contract would allow the Seahawks to make a change after that second season.
Additionally, the term of the contract may indicate that Schneider will finally use an early-round draft pick on a quarterback as a developmental option that could eventually push Darnold. The situation the Seahawks faced in 2012 could be a blueprint.
The concerns with Darnold are significant as well. He was disappointing as a starter with the Jets and in Carolina. He thrived last season in Minnesota playing for one of the better offensive coaches in the league in O’Connell and with maybe the best wide receiver in Justin Jefferson. As much as the Seahawks are hoping to upgrade the offensive line and need additional skill position help, it still might not match what Darnold had last season with the Vikings.
And Darnold has his warts. He was awful in Week 18 with the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line in a loss to Detroit and was equally bad in the wild-card round playoff loss to the Rams. It was not the strongest final impression before free agency.
Darnold has never lost a game in the city of Seattle with fans in the stadium
OK, that fact does come with a caveat. Darnold was the starting QB for the Jets when they came to Seattle and were whacked 40-3 by the Seahawks during the 2020 season and the “fans” in the seats at Lumen Field were cardboard cutouts.
But with real fans in the seats, Darnold is undefeated. During his college career, Darnold helped USC hand Washington its only regular season loss during the 2016 season, a 26-13 win at Husky Stadium.
And last year, Darnold threw for three touchdowns including the game-winner to Jefferson with less than four minutes remaining in a 27-24 win over the Seahawks.
“Coming into this hostile environment, it’s always a good feeling to get a win here. But again, it’s a tough opponent obviously in Seattle, so to be able to come in here and get a win was huge,” Darnold said after the win.