The Seattle Seahawks have reportedly found their new quarterback. Sam Darnold and Seattle cannot make things official until the new league year begins on Wednesday, March 12, but an agreement has been made. Darnold will be Seattle's new QB1.
Is the move a great one? Possibly. The QB has only had one very good season in the league. He is joining an offense that should play to his strengths, however.
But assuming Darnold is a winner, what other Seahawks (or former Seahawks) are winners and losers from his signing? There are a bunch. Here are just a few.
Winners and losers from Sam Darnold reportedly signing with the Seattle Seahawks
Winner: Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak
Kubiak gets a quarterback almost perfectly made for his offense. He wants to have a run-pass balance and a quarterback who is extremely efficient off of play-action. Darnold has proven to be a limited quarterback in terms of how he fits into any system, but he has also shown he can excel in the same kind of system Kubiak runs. What the Minnesota Vikings do and what Kubiak does have a lot of similarities.
Darnold and Kubiak also worked together for a year recently. In 2023, Darnold was a backup QB for the San Francisco 49ers, while Kubiak was the passing game coordinator. That connection is going to speed up the offensive rebuild after the team traded Geno Smith.
Loser: Potentially the Seahawks near-future
This has to work, or general manager John Schneider's job could be on the line, but more on that in a minute. If the signing of Darnold goes well, maybe in the same way Kirk Cousins became a lot better with the Vikings, then Seattle is going to be a perennial playoff team. Whether they are a Super Bowl contender or not will rely on things going exactly correctly.
If Darnold regresses to his pre-2024 level, the team could be in trouble. The offense could struggle while Seattle loses a lot of low-scoring games because the Seahawks' defense should be fine. But that only means missing the playoffs every season while not being bad enough to have a high draft pick.
Winner: General manager John Schneider
Schneider has now remade the team almost fully in his image, and he has done so in a little longer than a calendar year. He hired Mike Macdonald, and he has traded Geno Smith and DK Metcalf. If he believed the roster needed to be shaped a certain way, then he has done that.
To be fair, Schneider has shown an ability to pick out good quarterbacks. He was part of the front office that drafted Aaron Rodgers with the Packers and Russell Wilson with the Seahawks. If he thinks Darnold is the guy, then maybe he is. In John we trust, for now.
Loser: Wide receiver DK Metcalf
Metcalf wanted out of Seattle, so he was traded. He also wanted to go to a team with a stable quarterback situation, and his new team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, does not have that. Even if Pittsburgh signs Aaron Rodgers, that is no long-term answer. (Or maybe short-term because Rodgers was awful in 2024.)
Had Metcalf decided he wanted to stay with the Seahawks, the team and the receiver might have been able to come to terms. He also would have had Darnold throwing him the ball, and Darnold was really good with Justin Jefferson with the Vikings. Metcalf might eventually regret his request to be traded.
Winner: Tight end AJ Barner
Kubiak's offense works best with a tight end who can block well but also catch passes. That is exactly what Barner can do. Noah Fant is still on the roster, and he is likely to stay that way. He is a good pass-catcher, but he hasn't shown he can be a great blocker. Barner was very good as a rookie and will likely be even better in a Kubiak system.
Will Barner be a Pro Bowler? Maybe not. That is more of a popularity contest, many times based on raw numbers. Seattle probably will not throw to one specific tight end enough to have that player be elite numbers. But Barner is also probably not going to be more efficiently used than in a Kubiak system with Darnold as the quarterback.
Winner: Kenneth Walker III
In Darnold, the team is acquiring a quarterback who has no expectation of throwing the ball 35-40 times a game. If he throws the ball 28 times a game, that's great. He will do what he can to fit into the system. That means Walker is not going to be working with a quarterback who would rather throw the ball. The chemistry between Darnold and Walker will be better than that of Geno Smith and Darnold.
Assuming he can stay healthy, Walker is going to get to run the ball a lot. But Darnold also threw the ball to running back Aaron Jones 51 times with the Vikings this past season. Walker is going to get a lot of carries, but he is going to be able to work magic in the passing game as well.
More Seahawks news and analysis:
manual