The Seahawks have a type, and that appears to former Jets quarterbacks. Less than a week after trading Geno Smith to the Raiders, Seattle has now signed Sam Darnold to a 3 year, $100M deal — which could be worth up to $110.5M if performance escalators are reached.
Darnold broke out in Minnesota last season, leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record, and an unlikely playoff berth in a season most had written off as a retooling year. It left the Vikings in a difficult situation whether to extend Darnold, or move forward with J.J. McCarthy coming off injury, but now the decision is made for them.
The structure of Darnold’s deal is near-identical to that Baker Mayfield initially got with the Buccaneers. Both top picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, they struggled on their respective teams, took a detour through Carolina, and found they footing to become starting QBs once more.
This is where the similarities end, however, because Darnold will have a much more difficult time replicating Mayfield’s level of success in Seattle. This is a serious rebuild happening for the Seahawks, typified by releasing Tyler Lockett and trading D.K. Metcalf. Now Darnold will have to product with Jaxson-Smith Njigba, rather than Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addision — which is a feat in its own right.
In addition, there are questions about the Seahawks offensive line. In spite of much of the criticism leveled at Smith, he was adept at mitigating many of the weaknesses on the Seattle line. It’s unclear if Darnold can have that same ability with subpar protection, but he’s going to need to learn on the job because the expectation is that he can be the guy to bring the Seahawks back and make them competitive again.
Meanwhile the Vikings have been forced into a corner. They will either need to find a veteran bridge QB until McCarthy is ready, or throw the second year QB to the wolves. It’s more than a little surprising that Minnesota didn’t match the Seahawks figure given their large amount of salary cap space — but obviously they have a different plan for their offense.
