The Seahawks have the man they want to succeed Geno Smith under center.
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald seemed to be ecstatic during Sam Darnold's introductory press conference on Thursday, gushing with praise for his new signal-caller.
"First of all, he's just a tremendous human being, a great leader," Macdonald said of Darnold, the one-year Vikings starter who propelled Minnesota to a 14-3 finish before agreeing to a three-year, $100.5 million with the Seahawks on Monday.
"We had a lot of people in our building that have the history with Sam; they have a lot of respect for him as a person, as a leader, as a football player. So, I'm really excited to get our relationship started and getting to introduce himself for the rest of the team and the city and the 12s. I think we're gonna be really proud of our quarterback here. And then obviously as a football player, as a quarterback -- just a heck of a player. Tough as nails, for my opinion."
Darnold has needed to be tough in his NFL career, which began when he was the third-overall pick of the Jets in the 2018 draft and fizzled when he failed to develop during his time in New York and later Carolina. After a year as a backup in San Francisco, Darnold capitalized on a surprise opportunity in Minnesota, throwing for 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 102.5 passer rating during the 2024 season.
With 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy on the roster, Minnesota allowed Darnold to test the open market in free agency. He didn't have to wait long, finding a very interested suitor in Seattle, where Darnold's former passing game coordinator with the 49ers, Klint Kubiak, has become offensive coordinator.
Kubiak is one of the individuals Macdonald referenced when speaking of people who have a history with Darnold. Their fit is a major reason why the Seahawks decided to trade Smith to the Raiders and aggressively pursue Darnold, with Macdonald admitting on Thursday "once we decided to make the move with Geno, understanding who was out there, Sam became the No. 1 focus pretty quickly."
It's also why they're optimistic Darnold will thrive with the Seahawks.
"Sam's extremely talented, obviously a great thrower of the football, his mobility sticks out, his toughness, his maturity," Kubiak said. "Thing about Sam that really sticks out is just he's an A-plus teammate. Elevates those around him, and the guys he plays with respect him because your best players are your hardest workers, that's what you really strive for. It's what you want as a coach and Sam has that in spades."
Darnold's familiarity with Kubiak made Seattle -- a place in which Darnold threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings' Week 16 win over the Seahawks in 2024 -- rather attractive. His excitement was palpable Thursday.
"Obviously, you know, working with Klint a little bit in San Francisco, I'm very familiar with the scheme," Darnold told reporters. "Ran some very, very similar concepts last year in Minnesota, as well. ... Being able to collaborate, I think, is the biggest thing. Like, you know, there's variations of the same system that kind of go around the NFL, and being in one of those last year and kind of getting to morph a little bit of that with obviously most of the stuff that we did in San Francisco, and then I know he grew on his system a little bit last year in New Orleans. So, again, just very -- I know I keep using this word -- but very excited to just get rolling on kind of what this system, what the offense is gonna look like next year."
Plenty of questions still need to be answered. After trading DK Metcalf to Pittsburgh and releasing Tyler Lockett, Seattle has a painfully obvious need at receiver. Their offensive line -- regarded as one of the worst in the NFL last season, especially in pass protection -- is also in line for an upgrade.
If the situation doesn't improve this offseason, Darnold might have to temper his statistical expectations. As the top-tier teammate Kubiak described him as, Darnold is fine if that means handing off the ball more than he did last season, preaching Kubiak's focus on the running game as the team's foundation entering 2025.
Running the ball won't fix everything, though. Macdonald acknowledged the Seahawks still have work to accomplish in order to best situate themselves for success this fall.
"Well, I think the vision for offense has stayed the same," Macdonald said of the offense. "Those are those are big shoes to fill, and you can't do it just by like one person, but I think the synergy involved that's gonna be needed in order to do it is exciting. As we start to build this, the guys that are in the building, the possibilities of people that we can either acquire in the draft or throughout the whole process. Vision maintains the same, and just like Sam's talking about his mentality with this growth mindset of like trying to build our football team and take it to the next level, that's there, man. This is this is great; I'm happy everybody's here and can't wait until we actually start doing some real football."
When Seattle traded Smith to Las Vegas, most everyone connected a thick red yarn between Darnold and the Pacific Northwest. If any available quarterback fit Kubiak's system, it was Darnold. With collaboration powering their dreams, Seattle believes their outlook is very promising with Darnold, a quarterback who graduated from seeing ghosts to vanquishing the spirit of opponents in 2024.
"Well, I think Sam's best days are ahead of him, and I think you've seen that through the course of his career," Macdonald said. "He was able to grow as a player. I can assure you, talking to some of our defensive guys, we felt them out there. When you play quarterbacks or quarterbacks and your team, you want to feel them in the game, and you definitely feel Sam's presence, poise and competitiveness. Accuracy, the downfield threat, that's definitely a part of it, and then I'm being able to run the show, too, operationally, Sam can do it with the best of them, as well."