It was initially reported that quarterback Sam Darnold received a three-year, $100.5M contract from the Seattle Seahawks to leave the Minnesota Vikings in free agency. However, the Seahawks could escape the deal as soon as next offseason.
Thus, it’s not all that surprising that ESPN’s Matt Miller named the Seahawks a “sleeper team” that could target a quarterback “in the first two rounds” of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“There’s a chance he doesn’t maintain the level of success he had in 2024 now that he doesn’t have Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell calling the plays and a great receiver duo supporting him,” Miller said about Darnold. “And given the short term of his contract (three years) and large payout in Year 1, the Seahawks could still look to add at the position.”
Seattle currently possesses the 18th overall pick of the 2025 draft. Many insiders believe the Tennessee Titans will make Miami’s Cam Ward, the consensus top quarterback in his class, the first pick on April 24. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, the draft’s advertised QB2, has been linked with a handful of clubs in the top nine spots of the draft order.
What happens beyond that is a mystery. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. thinks the New Orleans Saints could take Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at pick No. 9 if Ward and Sanders are off the board. With that said, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer isn’t convinced that Dart, the draft’s supposed QB3, will “go in the top 50.”
For an article published Friday, The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen noted that Dart ideally “will get drafted to a team where he can sit, learn a playbook and clean up his footwork without live action.” Dart presumably could do just that with the Seahawks through his entire rookie season unless Darnold is a complete disaster with his latest club.
Miller added that he’d “keep an eye on” the Seahawks’ possible acquisition of Texas’ Quinn Ewers on the draft’s second day. That’s all well and good, but it can’t be forgotten that almost nobody believed 12 months ago that the Atlanta Falcons would select Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick of the 2024 draft, less than two months after they signed veteran Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180M contract that included a $100M guaranteed.
The Falcons have since made Penix their starter and are looking to trade Cousins this offseason.
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