Sam Darnold’s contract with the Seattle Seahawks was initially reported as a three-year, $100 million contract. This is technically true, but it looks like the Seahawks have some potential insurance just in case the Darnold experiment does not go as well as his recent season with the Minnesota Vikings.
The deal is being informally tossed around as the “Baker Mayfield contract” given its similarities to the one the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller signed in 2024. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that the Seahawks have the ability to make Darnold’s deal a one-year, $37.5 million contract, potentially moving on as soon as the 2026 offseason.
“2026 compensation: $27.5 million, $17.5 million of which is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed in the week after Super Bowl LX,” Florio wrote in a March 16, 2025, story titled, “Seahawks can escape Sam Darnold’s deal after one year, $37.5 million.” “… 2027 compensation: $35.5 million, non-guaranteed.
“The deal also includes $2 million per year for individual performance, $2.5 million per year for postseason performance, and $500,000 per year for team performance,” Florio continued.
“The structure allows the Seahawks to escape the contract after one year and $37.5 million. While it’s generally frowned upon for teams to scrap contracts when the guarantee flips from injury-only to full in the early days of the waiver period, that’s what the Raiders did with Derek Carr in 2023. (The good news for the player is that it gives him a head start on free agency, by more than a month.)”
The Seahawks Could Move on From QB Sam Darnold as Soon as 2026 With Only $37.5 Million Guaranteed
Now, for the Seahawks to move on from Darnold after just one season, things would likely have gone terrible wrong in the Pacific Northwest in 2025. Chances are Darnold will get at least two years as the Seahawks QB1.
“If the Seahawks pick up the second year of the Darnold contract at $27.5 million, it’s a two-year, $65 million deal,” Florio noted. “That’s an average of $32.5 million per year.
“… If Darnold regresses in 2025, he could be released after only one season. And the Seahawks will be out only $37.5 million. With Geno Smith apparently looking for much more than $37.5 million per year on a new deal in Seattle, the strategic decision to pivot from Smith to Darnold makes sense — even if it ultimately puts the Seahawks back in the market for a quarterback a year from now.”
Sam Darnold on Joining Seahawks: ‘So Excited to Finally Have Those 12s on My Side’
It remains to be seen if Darnold will be an upgrade over Geno Smith. Yet, the Seahawks were likely correct in wondering whether Smith’s value at quarterback justified a deal topping $40 million annually. Darnold admitted that he is glad to have the 12s cheering for him rather than creating crowd noise as an opponent.
“I’m so excited to finally have those 12s on my side this time,” Darnold said on March 13, per Seahawks.com. “And yeah, man, just really looking forward to this opportunity to be here with my teammates, with these coaches. I think we have an opportunity to do something very, very special here.
“But it’s going to take a lot of hard work, and we know that. I know that going in. And yeah, just very excited to take this one day at a time and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to put my head down and go to work, and just excited to do that.”
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