Last season, Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold had plenty of doubters regarding whether he could replicate his 2024 production with the Minnesota Vikings.
In Minnesota, Darnold helped lead the team to 14 wins and put together the best season of his career, throwing for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while posting a 102.5 passer rating across 17 regular-season games, per StatMuse.
Moreover, his breakout campaign also earned him his first Pro Bowl selection. Because of that season, the Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. He would prove last season that it was no fluke, as Darnold had 559 pass snaps, leading to a 79.3 overall PFF grade.
Darnold threw for 4,048 passing yards and 25 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. Furthermore, the 29-year-old recorded 29 big-time throws and 19 turnover-worthy plays while helping Seattle win Super Bowl LX.
Despite this production in back-to-back seasons, Justin Carter of FanSided predicts that Darnold will be one of five players to regress this 2026 season.
“It almost feels like it’d be impossible for Sam Darnold to not regress after leading the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl title last season,” Carter wrote in a June 27 article. “He completed a career-best 67.7 percent of his passes and threw for over 4,000 yards for the second season in a row.
“He also threw 14 interceptions, the most he’s had since his rookie season, and his touchdown rate dropped from 6.4 percent in 2024 to 5.2 percent in 2025. There were already signs that 2025 might not have actually been as good as 2024 Darnold. Could those signs become even more glaring this time around?”
Seahawks Have Question Marks With Their Pass-Catchers
One reason Carter sees Darnold as a regression candidate this upcoming season is the question marks surrounding the pass-catching options outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“Seattle also didn’t improve its receiving corps at all this offseason,” Carter added in his article. “Obviously, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is one of the NFL’s elites, but the situation after him is iffy. Rashid Shaheed hasn’t proven he can be more than a situational deep threat.
“Cooper Kupp’s not getting any younger. The tight end situation is mediocre. Unless Tory Horton breaks out, this receiving unit won’t be as good as it was last season, and that will lower Darnold’s floor and ceiling.”
Moreover, the running game will lean on rookie Jadarian Price early in the season until Zach Charbonnet returns from his torn ACL injury. Seattle is also bringing in a new offensive coordinator, Brian Fleury, to replace Klint Kubiak.
Sam Darnold Is Worth $55 Million per Year for Seattle
Should Darnold replicate or even improve on this production, he could be entering the $50 million-plus per year range. As a result, on the June 23 edition of “Wyman & Bob Show,” both radio hosts threw out the question of whether Darnold is worth $55 million per year.
As for Dave Wyman, he acknowledges that the Seahawks QB is worth that sum.
“I do too [think that Darnold’s worth $55 million] and I think that’s going to be a low-sounding number here very quickly,” Wyman said.
However, Wyman doesn’t believe the player will demand that sum when it’s time to discuss a contract extension with Seattle.
“He’s got plenty of time,” Wyman added. “Guys like him at quarterback just get better every year. He’s still got plenty of time to make that kind of money. I don’t think he’s going to demand it, that’s for sure. But I do think that if he has a similar type of year and takes a little better care of the ball, he’s worth $55 million.”
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