The Seattle Seahawks' quarterback room will look completely different from a season ago. Second-year head coach Mike Macdonald and long-time general manager John Schneider have revamped this position group. Geno Smith now plays for the Las Vegas Raiders. In comes Sam Darnold and Drew Lock in NFL free agency, with Jalen Milroe coming aboard in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Schneider recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show, explaining what all went into reshaping his team's quarterback room. The one thing he wanted to make abundantly clear with Eisen is that everybody was informed about what was going on. Darnold and Lock were informed about the ensuing Milroe pick. The same applied to Sam Howell, who was later traded to the Minnesota Vikings.
“Yeah, coach Mike Macdonald gave Sam a heads up. It was kind of in that period just coming down the pike, like, ‘Hey, this isn’t about you. This is about acquiring an impact player, in our opinion. Where’s the quarterback stuff go? We don’t know how fast.’"
This all runs counter to what the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons infamously did to their stars. Aaron Rodgers was not aware of the Jordan Love pick. Kirk Cousins was not aware of Michael Penix Jr, either.
“So, Mike talked to Sam. I was able to communicate with Drew. And, obviously, we were communicating with Sam Howell all throughout the weekend as well. Sam Howell’s a special person, too.”
Here is the entire clip from The Rich Eisen Show where Schneider talked about the quarterback room.
While Darnold probably appreciated the heads up, to what degree did he actually deserve to get one?
Seattle Seahawks informed Sam Darnold they were picking Jalen Milroe
Darnold is about to enter his first year with his fifth NFL team since turning pro out of USC some eight years ago. He previously played for the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers and most recently the Vikings. Outside of his one year in Minnesota, Darnold had been a complete and total NFL Draft bust. He was the former No. 3 overall pick by the Jets in the loaded 2018 NFL Draft.
Although I do agree that it is a good idea to inform quarterbacks of what is going on with the team throughout the NFL Draft process, Darnold is not on Rodgers' level, nor is he yet on the level of what Cousins was after leaving Minnesota. They had considerably more equity in the league than him. How informed was Darnold that the Vikings were going to take J.J. McCarthy as his eventual successor?
What I am getting at is Darnold has not done anything yet in Seattle. Outside of his one year with the Vikings, what has he done in the NFL? To be fair, Lock and Howell have not done anything of real significance up to this point in their journeyman careers. As far as Milroe is concerned coming into the building, he is more of a project than a prospect. His traits are crazy stupid, but need refinement.
Overall, doing this all in good faith will paint the Seahawks in a positive light, but none of that is going to matter if they do not win on Sunday. Seattle plays in a very winnable NFC West. Although I like the Arizona Cardinals the most at this point of the offseason, does Seattle have it in them to thwart the Los Angeles Rams and get back into the playoffs? Darnold will have to play like an MVP once again.
I appreciate the common decency put forth by Seattle, but it is not the same as Rodgers' situation.