The Seattle Seahawks have been very active this past week as they have decided to shake up their roster in a big way. After extension talks with Geno Smith stalled out, they traded the signal-caller to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick, and followed that up by granting DK Metcalf’s trade request by sending him to Pittsburgh for a second rounder.
While there was some initial thought Seattle could hit the reset button, it became apparent they were not making those moves with a rebuild in mind. Instead, they were quickly linked to Sam Darnold as the top suitor to give him the contract he was seeking after a career year in Minnesota, with the Vikings expected to move on with JJ McCarthy. Despite some reported interest from the Steelers, the Seahawks got a deal done with Darnold on Monday, agreeing to terms on a 3-year, $110.5 million contract that included $55 million guaranteed, per Dianna Russini and Adam Schefter.
That’s an annual salary of just under $37 million, and considering the reported asking price from Geno Smith was $45 million, they do save a bit by trading Smith and signing Darnold. Still, Smith had been consistently an above-average QB in his three seasons as the starter with the Seahawks, while Darnold has to prove he can consistently reach the level he achieved last year with the Vikings. Complicating matters is that Seattle now has to rebuild much of its offense around Darnold, as the offensive line was a serious problem last year and with the departures of Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, they are starting almost completely over at receiver aside from Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That’s not exactly the ideal situation to put a quarterback who thrived in Minnesota in large part thanks to the structure around him, but the Seahawks are banking on filling out those needs the rest of this offseason with both veterans and in the Draft.