Sam Darnold had a great 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings, which resulted in him being one of the top quarterbacks available in the offseason. By the time free agency came around, it was no shock that he was leaning towards signing with the Seattle Seahawks given the reporting. It was made official at the start of the 2025 league year, signing a three-year, $100 million contract.
Darnold does get his chance to finally be an undisputed starter on a team for the first time since his early New York Jets tenure, he is not guaranteed a second season. Based on the Seahawks' roster, he is at a disadvantage in 2025.
One major area of concern that Darnold will have to deal with is the Seahawks' offensive line. Pro Football Focus recently ranked every offensive line unit in the NFL heading into the 2025 season, and the Seahawks rank...30th out of the 32 teams.
Sam Darnold has to stand behind a Seahawks offensive line ranked 30th by PFF
That's...not a great situation to deal with.
Sure the Seahawks did try and address their starting offensive line by using their first round pick on North Dakota State guard Greg Zabel. However, Pro Football Focus doesn't anticipate him succeeding at the NFL level considering he played FCS ball in college.
"Seattle used its first-round pick on Grey Zabel, who is projected to start at left guard. However, a rookie who played at the FCS level last season is unlikely to provide a significant upgrade to a unit that allowed the second-highest pressure rate in 2024 (34.5%)," writes PFF's Zoltan Buday.
That pressure rate is concerning. Darnold had a better offensive line situation when he was with the Vikings. The thing is, the Vikings offensive line dealt with a variety of injuries, including to Christian Darrisaw, which pushed the team to trade for Cam Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars to replace him. Darnold's last two games with the Vikings were highlighted due in part to his and the offense's inability to deal with defensive pressure from the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams.
The Vikings offensive line last season was infinitely better when at full health than the Seahawks. In fact, by leaving the Vikings, Darnold watched them add the likes of guard Will Fries, center Ryan Kelly, and rookie Donovan Jackson to improve the interior of the line of scrimmage. That is a vast improvement over the options he has in Seattle, as evidenced by PFF giving the Vikings offensive line the No. 7 ranking.
The pressure is on for Darnold, especially since the Seahawks can get out of his contract following the 2025 season, and the team has rookie Jalen Milroe as his possible replacement.