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Mike Macdonald Reflects on Seahawks' Decision to Sign Sam Darnold

Nearly a year after signing Sam Darnold, the Seahawks are preparing for the Super Bowl.
Mike Macdonald looked back on the Seahawks’ decision to sign Sam Darnold.
Mike Macdonald looked back on the Seahawks’ decision to sign Sam Darnold. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

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Nearly a year ago, the Seahawks opted to make a change at quarterback when they traded Geno Smith to the Raiders and then signed Sam Darnold.

Though the Seahawks brought Darnold in on a team-friendly three-year, $100.5 million deal, the move was still viewed as a risk. Smith had played well in recent seasons for Seattle, and though Darnold was coming off a 14–3 campaign for the Vikings, his struggles in their last two losses of the season left many still doubting his capabilities.

As Super Bowl week commenced at Opening Night in San Jose, Calif., Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was asked if he was surprised at all last offseason that Darnold was available.

“When you ask ‘are you surprised’ or ‘were you expecting’ about things that’s really not how we operate,” Macdonald replied. “You’re really thinking about what are the decisions we have to make right now that are gonna help our team the most. As those things transpired in the offseason, to many people it seemed like it happened fast and it happened over the course of a couple days. For us it was really a series of decisions we had to make. John deserves a ton of credit for navigating us and guiding us through those times. We were really excited that he was available I felt like it was a great match from when that process started and am really happy that it worked out.”

The move certainly paid off as the Seahawks are on the brink of a championship within a year of signing Darnold and two years since they hired Macdonald. There were questions about how Darnold would perform in big games, but he’s lived up to the challenge thus far by defeating the Rams twice and advancing to the Super Bowl. Even though the pressure isn’t solely on him because of the Seahawks’ stellar defense, he’s come through in big moments—including his three-touchdown performance in the NFC championship game.

Macdonald said of Darnold after that victory, "He shut a lot of people up tonight, so I'm really happy for him."

With a Super Bowl win and/or a strong performance on Sunday, Darnold can shut any remaining doubters up and finally prove himself once and for all.


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Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.