SEATTLE — If there was any lingering notion that a healthy Sam Darnold could be beat out for the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback job, coach Mike Macdonald put it to rest in decisive fashion Tuesday.
During an interview with Seattle Sports 710-AM, Macdonald was asked whether anything other than an injury between now and the start of the season could lead the Seahawks to go with another quarterback.
“No, you guys are crazy,” Macdonald said. “I respect that you’ve got to ask it, but it’s just a crazy question. It’s just not going to happen. Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”
The question came a day after Darnold delivered an up-and-down performance in the Seahawks’ fourth day of OTAs, the first of which that was open to reporters. Darnold’s lowlights while leading the No. 1 offense included two interceptions in a span of three plays during a 7-on-7 period in the red zone, as well as several plays that fizzled with the quarterback holding onto the ball.
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Darnold bounced back well from those interceptions, and though Macdonald didn’t deny that Darnold made some mistakes, he also noted that the quarterback got the better of the defense near the goal line during an earlier period.
Macdonald emphasized that it’s still early in the offseason program, and that some mistakes are expected to happen.
“God forbid you’re the worst payer of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision,” he said. “That is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way and then when they go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip and then we’ll go fix it. … We’ve got time. It’s June 3 … They’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed.”
Darnold, 27, is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Minnesota Vikings, who opted to not re-sign him in March as they instead turn to last year’s No. 10 pick, J.J. McCarthy. Darnold led Minnesota to a 14-3 regular-season record after going 21-35 as a starter over his first six years in the NFL.
The Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract after trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. Seattle then drafted Jalen Milroe in the third round and traded Sam Howell to the Vikings, leaving the Seahawks with a three-man quarterback room that also includes veteran backup Drew Lock.
Macdonald has said that the plan for Milroe was to play a few plays a game in specialty packages, and that Darnold would still get well over 90% of the snaps.
The Seahawks’ current quarterback situation has been likened to the one from which Russell Wilson emerged as the starter as a rookie third-round pick in 2012. That year, Wilson won the job despite Seattle signing Matt Flynn in free agency to be the team’s presumed starter. But one significant difference is that Flynn’s per-year average of $6.5 million would be less than half of Darnold’s $33.5 million average when adjusted for this season’s salary cap.
