Sam Darnold has found his long-term home with the Seattle Seahawks. After underperforming early in his career and then being relegated to a backup role until getting a second chance at his career with the Minnesota Vikings for one season, Darnold isn't going anywhere after helping win the Super Bowl last season.
Last offseason, he signed a three-year deal with Seattle for a maximum of $100.5 million. That is fairly inexpensive for a starting quarterback in the NFL, so one could easily argue that Darnold is currently underpaid. Don't expect Seattle to change that soon, no matter what ESPN might ask.
The four-letter website recently produced an article about lingering offseason questions. For Darnold, Dan Graziano of ESPN asked, "Why didn't the Seahawks reward Sam Darnold with a new deal after winning the Super Bowl?"
ESPN's Sam Darnold question many Seattle Seahawks fans might find odd
Graziano answers himself initially by saying, "The short answer is that they believe he's already appropriately compensated." Seahawks fans, though, know there is much more to the story than that explanation.
The true answer for why Seattle didn't give Darnold a new deal after he and the team won a title is that general manager John Schneider doesn't give players new deals if they have two years left on their current contracts. He rarely works out new deals with players, even if they have one season left.
While Graziano isn't wrong when he says the Seahawks don't want to pay top-of-market money for a player that might not rank among the best at his position, that also goes for every position, and not just quarterback. 12s know that Schneider is going to do a couple of things almost all the time.
One comes when a free agent from another team is given a multi-year deal, with the other being that Schneider doesn't work out new deals two years ahead. Plus, rarely will years two and three of a new contract contain guaranteed money. Initially, Darnold's contract, just as wide receiver Cooper Kupp's and edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence's, among many others, didn't.
They all have guaranteed money for 2026 now, but that's only because the new fiscal NFL year has started. Beyond this season, Darnold has nothing currently guaranteed, as neither does Kupp. That's just the way John Schneider does things.
That doesn't mean that neither player will be with the Seattle Seahawks beyond this coming season, of course. Kupp might not be, but that is simply because he is getting older for a wide receiver and might be ready to retire. Darnold isn't even 30 years old yet and has a lot of years left to play.
ESPN's Sam Darnold question was simply poorly timed. The site should have waited until next year to pose the question. The Seahawks might offer Darnold a new deal one year early then, but an extension only lowers his cap hit for 2027, making the move a wise business decision.
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