Stacy Rost: ESPN’s Barnwell dives into 3 Seahawks storylines

An NFL story unfolding on the other side of the country and floating under the radar in the Pacific Northwest could end up having massive implications down the road for Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks.

Darnold impresses Huard, Hasselbeck at Seahawks minicamp

Baker Mayfield is entering the final year of a three-year, $100 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is looking for a new deal. Unfortunately for him, the two sides reportedly aren’t close to figuring out those numbers.

Darnold, meanwhile, could be up for an extension next offseason, when he’ll be entering the final year of his three-year, $100.5 million deal.

The impact of Mayfield’s current situation isn’t imminent – either for him and Tampa Bay, or for Darnold and Seattle. Mayfield has participated in offseason programs so far, and Darnold doesn’t seem like a candidate to hold out of any activities for the Seahawks, if he finds himself in a similar position next summer.

But when asked whether Seahawks fans should be paying closer attention to Mayfield’s negotiations, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell made it clear this one matters.

“If you’re Sam Darnold’s agent, you’re looking at that negotiation very closely and saying, hey, if Baker Mayfield gets maybe $50 million per year, well gosh, Sam Darnold’s won a Super Bowl,'” Barnwell said this past week on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “(Sam’s) a higher-profile quarterback, he’s got a better arm, he’s been more consistent as a starter over the last few years. Maybe $52 (million) or $55 (million) should be the number for Sam Darnold.”

That doesn’t put Mayfield or Darnold close to the $64 million per year Patrick Mahomes now commands from the Kansas City Chiefs, but it’d certainly be a bump up from the $33 million per year both are getting now. And with that comes changes to roster construction. Seattle has benefited from a quarterback who has outperformed his contract in his own way; getting $15-$20 million more per year would make building that roster more challenging.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think the Seahawks are naive to that reality,” Barnwell said. “This is a good problem to have.”

Is the disrespect real?

In the meantime, Darnold and the Seahawks are focused on trying to become the 10th team to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Despite bringing home the Lombardi Trophy, the Seahawks aren’t favorites to win their division or to repeat as champs. Instead, oddsmakers favor the Los Angeles Rams, who had one of the league’s busiest (and certainly most eye-popping) offseasons with their acquisitions of All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

While Barnwell joked that he’s never heard a team say it feels properly respected, he agreed there’s something real about the disrespect the Seahawks are feeling.

“I understand where they’re coming from,” Barnwell said. “Maybe a prove-it kind of thing that I don’t think other Super Bowl teams have had to do. I think part of that’s Sam Darnold, (and) part of that’s just because the expectation was not that this would be a Super Bowl team. I think it would have been the same thing, frankly, had it been the Patriots winning instead of the Seahawks. … Seahawks-Patriots was not exactly on anyone’s radar. So, I do think that’s the element of it.”

The impact of a new OC

The Seahawks will have their third offensive coordinator in as many years, and that rotating position reminded Barnwell of the highs and lows for the Philadelphia Eagles – a point that comes with a word of caution.

“I have seen that team go through an iteration every year of either we have a coordinator so good he gets a head coaching job, or we have a coordinator so bad he gets fired,” Barnwell said.

“If I had been sitting here having a conversation with Philadelphia radio a year ago, it would’ve been, hey, we have all these pieces, we’re great on offense, no reason to think our offense is going to take a major step backward.

“But that’s exactly what happened. The offensive line was banged up (and) the coordinator didn’t have the same answers that the prior coordinator did. And even though there were still these Pro Bowl, All-Pro caliber players, the offense struggled.”

Barnwell’s key for Seattle to avoid Philly’s 2025 fate? Health on the offensive line and an “answer” they can turn to during struggles.

“I do think if there’s a scenario where the Seahawks’ offense does take a step backward this year, it’s gonna be because maybe Abe Lucas, who was healthy last year (but) has had a history of not being 100%, if he misses some time and they don’t have the offensive line depth (and) the backups there struggle,” Barnwell said.

“And then if (new OC Brian Fleury) doesn’t necessarily have all the answers, and if the offense doesn’t have something they can rely upon the way they could with their boot game and their play-action game last year. … I do think they’re going to have to find that thing that works for them, and they’re going to have to have a healthy team. That’s something we never think about after a Super Bowl, but being healthy, or relatively healthy compared to the opposition, goes such a long way.”

Listen to the full Bump and Stacy conversation with ESPN’s Bill Barnwell at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune into Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Seattle Seahawks news and more

• Salk: The Super Bowl champion Seahawks are still getting better
• Bump: Why Seahawks will avoid a Super Bowl hangover
• Brock Huard: Top 3 Seattle Seahawks minicamp takeaways

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