The Seattle Seahawks seem to be trying to straddle a line between completely tearing down to rebuild and trying to win on the fly, based on the franchise’s early moves this offseason.
Seattle traded quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders two days before shipping wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers, only to turn around on the first day of the NFL free agency negotiating window and signing quarterback Sam Darnold.
While the Seahawks are buying high on Darnold coming off his first ever Pro Bowl campaign and the strongest season of his career, it is fair to wonder whether Darnold will revert to the mean without Metcalf in his arsenal and behind an offensive line in desperate need of an overhaul.
The 33rd Team lists the Seahawks as one of the biggest losers of this early portion of free agency.
“To replace Smith, the Seahawks signed Sam Darnold,” Dan Pizzuta writes for The 33rd Team. “To a three-year, $110.5 million deal with $55 million guaranteed. That price tag is less than what had been thrown around in reports early in the offseason. It’s still a bit of a commitment from Seattle, but with just $55 million guaranteed, it’s not something that will sink the Seahawks for multiple years if it fails.
“The deal does place a lot of faith in Klint Kubiak and the offensive system to both cover up the offensive line and keep Darnold from his worst tendencies under pressure. Even if that plays out to its best-case scenario, there’s still a much smaller margin for error to support the quarterback who still only finished 16th in EPA per play in 2024 despite his ideal surroundings. The potential for this to fail feels much higher than the probability of Darnold repeating or surpassing his performance last year.”
In order for Darnold to build on his 4,319-yard 2024 season with 35 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions, the Seahawks are going to need to find a dynamic replacement for Metcalf and rebuild the offensive line. Whether Seattle is able to accomplish both through free agency and the draft remains to be seen, but the Seahawks’ immediate future may depend on it.
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