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The Seattle Seahawks made a concerted effort to get younger at the quarterback position during the 2025 NFL offseason.
The Seahawks traded 34-year-old veteran Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders to reunite him with former Seattle coach Pete Carroll. That opened the door for Sam Darnold, 28, to join the team in free agency.
Thus far, Darnold has thrived in limited action with the Seahawks. He is making Seattle's pact with him look like a prudent one, especially considering how it compares to the deals given to some of the NFL's other top-paid signal callers.
Here's what to know about Darnold's contract, including the incentives within it and much more.
Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks in free agency. Below are the full details of the deal, per Spotrac.com.
While Darnold's contract runs through the 2027 NFL season, the Seahawks could move on from him as soon as the 2026 offseason while absorbing a dead-cap hit of $25.6 million, if they so desired. They can also get out of his deal in 2027 with a dead-cap cost of just $19.2 million.
Darnold is only carrying a salary cap charge of $13.4 million in 2025 thanks to some creative accounting from the Seahawks. That includes a couple of "void years" – an accounting method used to defray the present-year salary cap cost of a player by prorating a signing bonus over additional years – attached to the end of his contract.
Below is a look at Darnold's cap hits by year over the course of his deal with Seattle:
The base value of Darnold's $100.5 million contract is derived from the total amount of signing bonus ($32 million), his 2026 and 2027 roster bonuses ($25 million), his combined base salaries ($42.9 million) and his yearly workout bonus ($0.6 million).
That said, Darnold can earn up to an additional $5 million in annual incentives to raise the value of his contract. Below is a look at those incentives, as outlined by Spotrac.com:
Darnold must play 70% of the offensive snaps to earn his playoff bonuses and would only earn the largest sum of the four potential bonuses, as they are non-cumulative.
Darnold ranks 18th in average annual value (AAV) among NFL quarterbacks and 16th in total contract value. Below is a look at the top 10 in each category.
Through three games with the Seahawks, Darnold has graded as Pro Football Focus' No. 1 overall quarterback, rewarding Seattle for putting faith in him during free agency.
Below is a look at his full stats from the first three games of the season:
Darnold's completion percentage is the seventh-best among 31 qualified quarterbacks for 2025 while his yards per attempt and passer rating rank third and eighth respectively among the same group.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sam Darnold contract details include $55M guaranteed
Continue reading...
The Seahawks traded 34-year-old veteran Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders to reunite him with former Seattle coach Pete Carroll. That opened the door for Sam Darnold, 28, to join the team in free agency.
Thus far, Darnold has thrived in limited action with the Seahawks. He is making Seattle's pact with him look like a prudent one, especially considering how it compares to the deals given to some of the NFL's other top-paid signal callers.
Here's what to know about Darnold's contract, including the incentives within it and much more.
Sam Darnold contract details
Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks in free agency. Below are the full details of the deal, per Spotrac.com.
- Term: 3 years
- Total value: $100.5 million
- Average annual value (AAV): $33.5 million
- Guaranteed money: $55 million
While Darnold's contract runs through the 2027 NFL season, the Seahawks could move on from him as soon as the 2026 offseason while absorbing a dead-cap hit of $25.6 million, if they so desired. They can also get out of his deal in 2027 with a dead-cap cost of just $19.2 million.
Sam Darnold salary cap hits
Darnold is only carrying a salary cap charge of $13.4 million in 2025 thanks to some creative accounting from the Seahawks. That includes a couple of "void years" – an accounting method used to defray the present-year salary cap cost of a player by prorating a signing bonus over additional years – attached to the end of his contract.
Below is a look at Darnold's cap hits by year over the course of his deal with Seattle:
- 2025: $13.4 million
- 2026: $33.9 million
- 2027: $41.9 million
- 2028 (void): $12.8 million
- 2029 (void): $6.4 million
Sam Darnold contract incentives
The base value of Darnold's $100.5 million contract is derived from the total amount of signing bonus ($32 million), his 2026 and 2027 roster bonuses ($25 million), his combined base salaries ($42.9 million) and his yearly workout bonus ($0.6 million).
That said, Darnold can earn up to an additional $5 million in annual incentives to raise the value of his contract. Below is a look at those incentives, as outlined by Spotrac.com:
- Annual performance incentives: $2 million per year
- 100 Passer Rating: $500,000
- 28 TD Passes: $500,000
- 4,000 Passing Yards: $500,000
- 67.5% Completion: $500,000
- Annual playing time incentives: $500,000 per year
- 70% Snaps + team is Top 10 in Net Offensive Yards: $500,000
- Annual playoff incentives: Up to $2.5 million per year
- Playoff Berth: $500,000
- Divisional Win: $1 million
- Conference Champ Win: $1.5 million
- Super Bowl Win: $2.5 million
Darnold must play 70% of the offensive snaps to earn his playoff bonuses and would only earn the largest sum of the four potential bonuses, as they are non-cumulative.
Highest-paid NFL QBs: Where Sam Darnold ranks
Darnold ranks 18th in average annual value (AAV) among NFL quarterbacks and 16th in total contract value. Below is a look at the top 10 in each category.
AAV
- 1. Dak Prescott, Cowboys: $60 million
- T-2. Josh Allen, Bills: $55 million
- T-2. Joe Burrow, Bengals: $55 million
- T-2. Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars: $55 million
- T-2. Jordan Love, Packers: $55 million
- 6. Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: $53.1 million
- T-7. Jared Goff, Lions: $53 million
- T-7. Brock Purdy, 49ers: $53 million
- 9. Justin Herbert, Chargers: $52.5 million
- 10. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: $52 million
Total contract value
- 1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs: $450 million
- 2. Josh Allen, Bills: $330 million
- T-3. Joe Burrow, Bengals: $275 million
- T-3. Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars: $275 million
- 5. Brock Purdy, 49ers: $265 million
- 6. Justin Herbert, Chargers: $262.5 million
- 7. Lamar Jackson, Ravens: $260 million
- 8. Jalen Hurts, Eagles: $255 million
- 9. Dak Prescott, Cowboys: $240 million
- 10. Kyler Murray, Cardinals: $230.5 million
Sam Darnold stats
Through three games with the Seahawks, Darnold has graded as Pro Football Focus' No. 1 overall quarterback, rewarding Seattle for putting faith in him during free agency.
Below is a look at his full stats from the first three games of the season:
- Completion %: 70.3
- Passing yards: 663
- Passing TDs: 4
- Interceptions: 2
- Yards per attempt: 9.0
- Passer rating: 104.7
- QBR: 51.0
Darnold's completion percentage is the seventh-best among 31 qualified quarterbacks for 2025 while his yards per attempt and passer rating rank third and eighth respectively among the same group.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sam Darnold contract details include $55M guaranteed
Continue reading...
