Seahawks Winners & Losers in Free Agency
Which Seahawks have benefited the most from the beginning of free agency?
“Because the Seahawks are going to try and become a dominant rushing offense again!”
This is the line of thinking I would suggest fans to use when they’re pressed to answer the question, “But how are the Seahawks going to get the same Sam Darnold as the Vikings without a dominant pass protecting o-line and only one receiving weapon of note?”
Don’t forget Seattle’s A1 priority of the 2025 offseason: To go back to being the team that ranked 1st (2012), 2nd (2013), 2nd (2014), and 3rd (2015) in rushing attempts during the best era in franchise history.
We all agree that quarterback is the most important position in football, but it has been proven time and time again that those players can either be ruined by a bad situation and successful in the right one.
Jalen Hurts: Super Bowl MVP
2024 Philadelphia Eagles: #1 in rushing attempts, #32 in passing attempts
On day one of the Darnold era, the main course for arguments against the $100 million contract seem to be that Seattle “doesn’t pass protect well enough” and “only has Jaxon Smith-Njigba” to help the quarterback succeed next season. You will be tempted to talk about ways the Seahawks could improve their supporting cast by adding offensive linemen and weapons in free agency and the draft…
Which is totally fair but don’t overlook the bigger point:
The Seahawks have to RUN THE BALL better!
Darnold’s best friend will not be a DK Metcalf replacement, so much as it should be a top-5 rushing attack.
Seattle ranked 29th in rushing attempts in Ryan Grubb’s only season as offensive coordinator, a number that Mike Macdonald, Klint Kubiak, and John Schneider would like to see reach single-digits, if not the loneliest number of all.
That’s why the biggest winner of Darnold’s deal with Seattle (other than Darnold) is Kubiak.
Winner: Klint Kubiak
The third-time offensive coordinator isn’t just getting a good-enough veteran starter, but also a player who should have a smoother transition to the 2025 Seahawks offense than virtually any other available option, including Geno Smith. By that I mean that Darnold’s year of experience with Kubiak on the 49ers in 2023, and running a largely similar offense with the Vikings in 2024, should smooth out the learning curve for teaching his playbook and terminology to Seattle’s offensive roster.
And by “good enough”, I really just mean that: Even if 2024 turns out to be Darnold’s best career season, nobody throws 35 touchdowns by accident. Trust me, Justin Jefferson is not the first great receiver in NFL history and many of the ones before him and in the present have played with bottom-5 quarterbacks.
I have been re-visiting The QB School’s breakdowns of Darnold’s 2024 starts and it is obvious that he is a solid quarterback who has gotten better over the years and is able to deliver accurate passes because of rarely-seen consistency with his technique. Here is one from his 4-TD game against the Texans in Week 3:
Sure, it’s possible that 8-10 months from now Darnold will have played so poorly that fans are reminded that the last two Vikings QB to leave Minnesota for big money were Kirk Cousins in 2024 and Case Keenum in 2018.
But if the Seahawks can run the ball effectively with a better offensive line and Kenneth Walker/Zach Charbonnet/Kenny McIntosh behind them, meaning Kubiak is also a better play caller than Seattle’s previous two OCs, that should carry far more weight in Darnold’s success level than if Seattle overpays a guard, signs Cooper Kupp, and drafts a first round receiver.
(They shouldn’t draft a first round receiver.)
Kubiak’s Saints ranked 21st in rushing attempts, but the roster was decimated by injuries, were usually playing from behind, and may have had the worst running backs room in the NFL if you subtract Alvin Kamara, who is not known as a star because of his rushing accumen.
The Seahawks want to be the best rushing offense in the league. If they can just get a lot closer to that, Darnold should be more than good enough.
So Kubiak is my first “WINNER” of Seattle’s free agency/trade moves thus far this week, but who else is getting a boost from what the Seahawks have done? For better and for worse? I’ll look not just at how Darnold impacts the Seahawks, but also their re-signings of Ernest Jones and Jarran Reed, the DK Metcalf trade, the money opened up by trading Geno Smith, John Schneider’s draft decisions, and other things that I’m sure I’ll think of in a minute.
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The next “winner” of Seahawks free agency is the person who benefited the most from trading Geno Smith…