Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold attends the TGL match between Jupiter Links GC and Atlanta Drive GC at SoFi Center on March 4, 2025, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

nfl

Sam Darnold Signs 3-Year Deal With the Seattle Seahawks on the First Day of Free Agency

Seahawks acquire Sam Darnold, sign him to a 3-year deal

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold attends the TGL match between Jupiter Links GC and Atlanta Drive GC at SoFi Center on March 4, 2025, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Sam Darnold finds himself a new home on the very first day of the 2025 free agency. This news comes as no big surprise given that he was the most eligible free agent quarterback available and with the type of year he had with the Vikings last season, Darnold’s stock had risen considerably.

The former Vikings quarterback is now a Seahawk after having signed a 3-year deal worth $100.5 million which includes a $55 million guarantee. Annually, Darnold will be making $33.5 million, which is a big step up from the $10 million he earned last year with Minnesota.

Update: it’s a three-year, $100.5 million deal including $55 million guaranteed. https://t.co/7VOdSRe2hD
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2025

Implications of Darnold Joining the Seahawks

Darnold will be the guy to lead the Seahawks franchise as Seattle had recently traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. Seattle is rebuilding its offense, having traded not only Smith but also their star receiver, DK Metcalf. In addition to that, they also released long-time receiver Tyler Lockett, and the offense will now run through their 2023 first-round draft pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

What Darnold was able to achieve last season in Minnesota was a combination of good coaching and excellent receivers such as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. While Smith-Njigba may not be on the same level of Jefferson, he has shown excellent progress and is coming off a 1,000-plus receiving yards season.

Also Read: Browns fans can rest easy – Myles Garrett is here to stay!

However, one of the biggest differences between the two teams last season was the offensive line, where the Vikings had a top ten O-line while the Seahawks lingered near the bottom. This is one area the Seahawks will have to improve upon, especially since Darnold is not an out-and-out dual-threat quarterback despite showing his scrambling abilities when required.

At 27 years of age, Darnold has youth on his side, but the question that needs to be answered is just how good will he be in 2025. If the past is anything to go by, Darnold’s first five seasons as a starter were nothing to rave about. For Seattle, the risk of this three-year deal is whether the California native’s graph will continue to rise or was his 2024 season a one-off wonder.

What’s Next for the Vikings

Minnesota had signed Darnold on a bargain one-year deal as a bridge quarterback for their rookie J.J. McCarthy last season. McCarthy’s season-ending injury in preseason opened the door for Darnold, and his spectacular season meant that his stock rose significantly. While Minnesota would have ideally liked to re-sign Darnold, they couldn’t afford to franchise tag him for $40 million or so.

The future in Minnesota belongs to McCarthy and the Vikings will build a roster around him and his strengths. But, the biggest concern now is that their first-round pick from 2024 has not played even one game at the highest level.

To get a better idea of the Vikings’ 2024 season, Darnold threw for a career-best 4,319 yards with a career-best completion percentage of 66.2. He had 35 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions and a passer rating of 102.5.

NFL

Sam Darnold

Seattle Seahawks

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!