The Seattle Seahawks do not have a lot of controversy heading into the 2025 season. Particularly at the quarterback position, where Minnesota Vikings transplant, Sam Darnold, is widely known to be the QB1, replacing the departed Geno Smith – who was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders earlier in the offseason.
Yet that did not stop co-host of Seattle Sports 710 – AM, Mike Salk from asking whether it was fully assured that Darnold would be the starting quarterback come the commencement of the regular season in September.
“I almost have to ask, but I hate asking this: is there anything that could happen, other than an injury, between now and the beginning of the season, that would lead to a different [starting] quarterback”, Salk asked McDonald.
In response, McDonald (jokingly) went off on the radio hosts for their out-of-the-box line of questioning on the new QB
“Sam’s our starting quarterback.”#Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald to @BrockHuard & @TheMikeSalk on @SeattleSports.
FULL VIDEO 📺: https://t.co/2nHH3MqeNL pic.twitter.com/ZSwNxMOpR7
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) June 3, 2025
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Mike McDonald Responds To ‘Crazy’ Question
“No, you guys are crazy. I respect you gotta ask it but that a crazy question, it’s not gonna happen. Sam’s our starting quarterback, we love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.
McDonald took the question – likely correctly – to be a response to a mixed day for Darnold during OTAs, which featured two interceptions in three plays on Tuesday. And the second year Seahawks HC made sure to address that implicit critique with the rest of his answer.
“It turns out at practice,” McDonald continued sarcastically, “it’s a great way to build culture by letting guys know they can’t make mistakes. That’s exactly what we’re shooting for. So go out to practice, be tight, make sure you don’t make a mistake.”
“God forbid you’re the worst player of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision. That is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way and then when they go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip, and then we’ll go fix it.”
“We’ve got time. It’s June 3. They’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed. I mean, Sam made a lot of great throws yesterday — he was gashing us on third-and-goal to start the day out, too. So, yeah, it’s kind of a crazy question.”
Sam Darnold’s Job Not In Jeopardy Despite Mistakes On Tuesday
No one worth their weight in salt believes that the Seahawks were ever actually planning on sidelining their new starting QB, who just signed a fresh 3 year, $100 million deal with the franchise in March.
Darnold is not quite an elite, top-10 caliber signal caller in the league, but there is no part of Seattle’s management who thinks there is any way that former Broncos second round pick, Drew Lock, or rookie third rounder, Jalen Milroe, will be given the QB1 job in Darnold’s stead come September.
Even with mistakes in practice, there is no question that it will be the Darnold show in Seattle this forthcoming regular season – barring any injuries. Beyond 2025, we shall have to see.
