Sam Darnold says Seahawks 'always' had good reviews from NFL peers

Sam Darnold considered a variety of factors before signing with the Seattle Seahawks

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold passes against the Seattle Seahawks. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

As easy as it would've been for new Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold to just sign with the first team to offer him a Brink's truck full of money this offseason, that wasn't exactly the case. Of course, the money played a huge role in his decision. After all, who wouldn't want $100 million to throw a football?

However, Darnold also considered the organization that was offering the money, and in particular, what his fellow players had to say about it.

"I had a preconceived notion, right? It's funny, you hear about certain organizations as you're with other teams and other guys come in from other teams and everyone talks about organizations - good, bad, in between," Darnold told USA Today. "Seattle was always a place that had such good reviews from other players that I've played with. So to already have that preconceived notion and then step into the building, it's really exceeded my expectations of what this organization is about and how they do things on a day-to-day basis.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold participates in pregame warmups against the Seattle Seahawks. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

"I think one of the things that excited me about coming here was Coach [Mike] Macdonald and kind of the culture that he set for this team last year and kind of rolling back into this year, already the momentum that I feel like we've gained these past few weeks working together. So it's been really good. Then obviously I know Coach [Klint] Kubiak from my time in San Francisco in 2023, so it's nice to be able to have some verbiage and some of the things in the system sound really familiar to me. So that was also a part that really excited me."

The Seahawks clearly have a reputation around the league for taking care of their players, and with no major scandals in recent memory, that checks out. It also helps that they've generally been one of the better teams on the field over the past decade and a half. Pete Carroll may be gone, but Macdonald is keeping the culture going.

Hopefully for Darnold, the move to Seattle works as well as he believes it will.

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