The Seattle Seahawks have made some shrewd moves this offseason. Seattle received a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft for trading starting quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders.
They also dealt star receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second-round pick in the draft and moved on from veteran receiver Tyler Lockett.
Despite all of those notable transactions, NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha views Seattle's signing of former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold as their best move of the NFL offseason so far. The Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract with $55 million guaranteed.
Chadiha ranks the Sam Darnold signing as the sixth-best transaction of the offseason to date.
Darnold is coming off a breakout season with the Minnesota Vikings. In 2024, he passed for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns (both fifth in the NFL) along with 12 interceptions. His QBR of 60.4 ranked 14th in the NFL.
Darnold helped the Vikings overcome a season-ending injury to rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Darnold and the Vikings went 14-3 and finished tied for the third-best record in the NFL.
The bad news for Seattle and Minnesota last season was that Darnold ended the year playing his worst football. The Vikings lost in the final week of the regular season to the Detroit Lions with a chance to secure home-field advantage and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Then, Darnold was sacked nine times in the Vikings' playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Darnold performed poorly in both of Minnesota's losses to end the 2024 NFL season. There's no doubt that signing Darnold is a risk for Seattle, but Chadiha likes the move.
"(Darnold's contract is) structured in a way that allows the Seahawks to walk without major financial consequences after a year," said Chadiha. "That's insurance in case Darnold implodes like he did in his final two starts of last season. If things go according to plan in Seattle, the 'Hawks shouldn't need to use it."
Seahawks fans should be cautiously optimistic with the Darnold signing.
