The Seattle Seahawks didn't cheap out when it came time to replace Geno Smith following his trade to the Las Vegas Raiders. Sam Darnold, fresh off throwing 35 touchdown passes with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, agreed to sign a three-year deal worth in excess of $100 million.
The Seahawks have totally uprooted their roster in the last few days, and they still aren't done bringing in some new names. Darnold won 14 games with the Vikings last year, a sign he can be a reasonably effective starter for a Seahawks team eyeing a postseason appearance in 2025 and beyond.
The depth chart still is by no means finalized, but the Darnold addition will be the biggest and most impactful move this team could have made in both this offseason and the following one. Seattle's offense will certainly have a new look and a much different flavor to it in 2025.
Updated Seattle Seahawks offensive depth chart after Sam Darnold signing
Position | Starter | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
QB | Sam Darnold | Sam Howell | Jaren Hall |
RB | Kenneth Walker III | Zach Charbonnet | Kenny McIntosh |
WR | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Jaelon Darden | |
WR | Jake Bobo | John Rhys Plumlee | |
WR | Dareke Young | ||
TE | Noah Fant | AJ Barner | |
LT | Charles Cross | Stone Forsythe | Josh Jones |
LG | Christian Haynes | ||
C | Olu Oluwatimi | Jalen Sundell | |
RG | Anthony Bradford | Sataoa Laumea | |
RT | Abraham Lucas | Michael Jerrell |
It doesn't take a genius to see that wide receiver is still the biggest area of need for this offense. While free agency could help them land more big names next to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle also has five picks in the first three rounds they can use to get Darnold some weapons to play around with.
The offensive line is still an area of huge weakness, as left tackle Charles Cross is the only player who could be considered an above-average player. Expect whatever draft capital is not used on wide receivers to be allocated to helping build Darnold a solid offensive line.
The biggest strength of this offense is the running back room, as Kenneth Walker III has proven to be a solid playmaker while Zach Charbonnet came alive as a trusted deputy. Even with Darnold, it may behoove new OC Klint Kubiak to try to become a run-focused team in the name of maximizing a strong backfield.
Darnold is by no means a miracle worker, as there are still some serious questions about his overall ability to take a team to the next level, but this is just about the best realistic replacement for Smith that Seattle could have hoped to sign.