49ers
- According to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, San Francisco will lean heavily on the draft to retool their roster after many of their core players have left. The 49ers have to pay QB Brock Purdy and all signs point to the team relying on the draft to fortify their defensive line early on.
- Barrows added that the team signing QB Mac Jones, who HC Kyle Shanahan wanted to draft third overall, is an insurance policy just in case negotiations with Purdy go sideways and provides them with a more than competent backup.
- Barrows also said that the team was heavily involved in re-signing LB Dre Greenlaw, even after he agreed to a deal with Denver. The negotiations, according to Barrows, came down to the final minute before he ultimately decided to join the Broncos.
Rams
- Rams QB Matthew Stafford had a roster bonus due worth $23 million with an additional $4 million due on March 19, and OL Rob Havenstein had an option due worth $5 million with an additional $6.5 million due. (OTC)
Seahawks
- The Seahawks re-signed DT Jarran Reed to a three-year, $22 million contract with $8 million fully guaranteed, including a $4.5 million signing bonus. The deal has base salaries of $2.99 million, $5.49 million, and $7.49 million. (Over The Cap)
- Reed also can earn per-game roster bonuses up to $510k each year, and he will make another $2 million if he’s on the roster five days following the 2025 league year Super Bowl. (Over The Cap)
- The Seahawks have signed LB Ernest Jones to a three-year, $28.5 million contract, which includes $15 million in guarantees and a $7 million signing bonus. His salaries are $2.15 million in the first year (fully guaranteed), $7.15 million in the second year ($5 million guaranteed for injury, skill, and cap if on the roster on the fifth day of the 2026 league year), and $9.65 million in the third year. The deal also includes a $50,000 per-game active roster bonus each season, an annual $1 million incentive for NFL honors, and a $750,000 playtime-based escalator for the 2026-2027 seasons. (Aaron Wilson)
- Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald doesn’t believe QB Sam Darnold‘s time in Minnesota was the peak of his career: “I think Sam’s best days are ahead of him, and I think you’ve seen that through the course of his career.” (Curtis Crabtree)
- Macdonald said the team shifted to Darnold pretty quickly after it became apparent that Geno Smith would no longer be their quarterback: “Sam became the No. 1 focus pretty quickly.” (Michael-Shawn Dugar)
- Macdonald admitted the team had to pivot away from Smith and said that Darnold was his first choice to become the starter: “It was, you know, interesting series of events, for sure, but when it became apparent that we’re gonna have to pivot away from Geno, then, you know, I’m definitely hoping that it was gonna be with Sam.” (Crabtree)
- Seahawks GM John Schneider revealed all of WR Cooper Kupp‘s exams went well after signing in free agency. (Bob Condotta)
Seahawks
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold took the scenic route before displaying that he has the capability of being one of the league’s premier quarterbacks, but he is remaining humble through the highs and the lows.
“I think the biggest thing, especially as an early draft pick you might feel like you have all the answers, but this is what I did: I kept learning,” he said, via SI’s Albert Breer. “I kept learning every single day. Even with little successes in New York and even some of the mistakes I made in New York, I learned from them. I took the coaching and learned from it, and did the same thing in Carolina and so on and so on. The biggest thing is no matter what level you’re at, no matter where you get drafted, you’re always learning and you’re always growing as a quarterback. As long as you do that and keep your head down, I think another big thing is just staying humble in your work and keeping the work and the grind number one. People say, ‘Keeping the main thing the main thing.’ I think that’s huge. There’s so many different opportunities with social media and all these different people reaching out to you. Doing media, some guys can get lost in doing these things. Even after having a good season like I had last year, they start to speak pretty high of you. There are still doubters. At the end of the day, that doesn’t even matter. I just got to go out there and play it one play at a time and do my job every single play.”
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