The Seattle Seahawks are steamrolling towards a quarterback controversy.
Well, if things continue at their current trajectory, it won’t be much of a controversy at all. But Seattle’s positioned itself for
a very different future at QB than nearly anyone would have predicted six months ago.
“With the 92nd pick of the 2025 NFL draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Jalen Milroe, quarterback, Alabama.”
The Seahawks had traded Geno Smith, signed most-polarizing-figure of the offseason Sam Darnold, and now added Milroe as the developmental quarterback of the future.
I’m not sure why I’m telling you all this. If you’re here you know. As well you know the absolute shellacking John Schneider took from the media. What a downgrade, etc. etc.
Good thing the team had Darnold, who’s at least interesting enough to keep the team alive and relevant for a year, maybe two, for Milroe to take over.
Seven games in, the narrative is about ready to flip drastically.
In virtually every meaningful metric that exists, Darnold is one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL this season.
In addition to those, he’s the league leader in Yards per Attempt, third in Red Zone efficiency, and fourth in overall QB rating.
Now for the good part. Sam Darnold is 28 years old, signed for three years, and by all accounts is a superb leader, with teammates from rookies to Cooper Kupp willing to go the extra mile for him.
Question, then: does Jalen Milroe ever see the field again?
And no, I’m not just talking about the trick plays. However, hopefully those are gone forever.
But this spring, early assumptions were that the Seahawks could (and probably would) get out of Darnold’s contract after one year. John Gilbert has already squashed that conversation, highlighting how crucial that second year of Darnold’s deal is to bring the value back into balance. Furthermore! By the time we get to year three, in 2027, paying Darnold under $40 million for what he’s currently doing is highway robbery.
You just saw Trevor Lawrence. He makes $55 million this year.
But I see no reason to stop there.
Darnold’s 28. On the dot the middle of the NFL. 14th out of 32 starting quarterbacks; same age as Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, Daniel Jones, and Joe Burrow. Only a year older than Justin Herbert. Only three years older than Bo Nix, which is objectively hilarious.
I realize we’re only seven games into the first season. But at this moment, I’d have to stake my claim that it’s more likely Seattle extends Darnold in 2026 than cut him at any point in this contract. Second most likely scenario is he plays it out to test free agency after 2027.
But as some are pointing out, he got engaged, bought a home in Seattle, and got dumped by the Minnesota Vikings.
Jalen Milroe is a rarely-paralleled athletic talent. True dual-threat quarterbacks are nothing to sneeze at, and are actually pretty rare. Milroe could be that. But even Milroe’s highest projections, and his best possible ceiling, is not to throw the ball like Darnold.
Minnesota just gambled on a rookie sensation being better than what Darnold previously had to offer.
I would not like John Schneider to make the same gamble, not on Milroe.
Which means an additional contract for Darnold down the road, and the project need not see the light of day.
