How much could Darnold’s next deal cost the Seahawks?

The Seattle Seahawks have a longstanding policy of not extending contracts with more than a year remaining.

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So, even after Sam Darnold helped deliver a Super Bowl title in his first season as Seattle’s quarterback, he’s unlikely to receive a new contract from the team this offseason. As a result, he’ll likely play 2026 on the same three-year, $100.5 million deal he inked back in March 2025.

Next offseason, however, is when things get interesting.

With quarterback contracts on a skyrocketing trajectory, could Darnold potentially land an extension next offseason that’s worth $50 million in average annual value?

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah was posed that question on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

“I think he’s heading toward that direction,” Jeremiah said. “And if … he comes out and has a year that approaches what he did last year, I would say he’s going to land in that ballpark.

“And I think he’s also going to get the benefit of who he is as a person – like, OK, I don’t feel super comfortable paying this, but he’s going to allow me to feel a little bit more comfortable because of who he is and how he’s viewed in the locker room and with his team.”

The ever-rising salary cap

Darnold currently ranks 15th among NFL quarterbacks with a $33.5 million AAV, according to Over The Cap. The only other established NFL quarterback on a multi-year, non-rookie deal with a lower mark is Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal caller Baker Mayfield, who has a $33.3 million AAV as he enters the final season of a three-year, $100 million deal.

Ten quarterbacks currently have contracts worth upward of $50 million in AAV. And with a ballooning salary cap, Jeremiah expects a $50 million AAV to become even more commonplace over the next year or two.

Just four years ago, the NFL’s salary cap eclipsed $200 million for the first time. This year, the cap is above $300 million.

“I think (Darnold) can get into that $50 million range,” Jeremiah said. “And I think that could still – at the time that he does it a year from now – could be cutting the team a discount with where the numbers are going.

“It just feels like every year when you get these quarterback numbers and everybody freaks out, you just have to remind everybody (that) this league is not making any less money. Like, this cap is going to continue to go up, and these quarterback numbers are going to continue to go up. We’re going to have $100 million quarterback in AAV before it’s all said and done.

“So I just think that the numbers that freak people out now, a year from now, I think you’d be like, yeah, we’ll do that.”

A different question

Mike Salk then phrased the question a different way: Regardless of the ever-increasing contract numbers, could the Seahawks win another Super Bowl down the road while paying Darnold a deal that’s near the top of the QB market?

Jeremiah said they could, but that it’d put immense pressure on general manager John Schneider to continue acing the NFL Draft. Schneider has assembled a sensational amount of talent over the past five drafts, but even for one of the league’s top GMs, it’d probably be unrealistic to expect him to maintain that level of success year after year.

“I think it’d put a lot more stress on your ability to continue to do what they’ve done in the draft,” Jeremiah said. “So if you tell me they’re going to be able to repeat the success they’ve had in the draft the last few years (over) the next few years, I’d say, yeah, that’s the formula, that’s how you do it.”

But as Jeremiah said, that’s certainly much easier said than done.

“John (would) have to continue to just knock it out of the park,” Jeremiah said. “You’re going to put a lot of pressure on him by doing that.”

Listen to the full conversation with NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the video player at the top of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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