RENTON, Wash. -- Klint Kubiak had joined Sam Darnold onstage at his introductory news conference last month when the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator pointed to his newly-signed quarterback as an example of how players at that position are sometimes written off too soon.
Drafted third overall in 2018, Darnold lasted only three seasons with the New York Jets before they traded him to the Carolina Panthers, who didn't re-sign him after two years and 17 starts. He backed up Brock Purdy with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 before his Pro Bowl breakthrough last year with the Minnesota Vikings.
"It's really impressive to be that kind of a fighter and to stay in the fight and when you get your chance again, be ready," Kubiak said. "Sam was ready, and Sam earned this job here."
Darnold will have to continue to earn it.
Otherwise, the Seahawks could conceivably cut him next winter if he were to struggle badly in 2025.
That's the biggest takeaway now that the lingering question with his three-year, $100.5 million contract has been answered. As details of the deal began to trickle out, one side of a conflicting set of reports stated that the Seahawks broke a long-standing team precedent by fully guaranteeing money beyond the first year.
In fact, they did not.
Darnold's deal includes a $15 million March roster bonus in 2026. Some reports indicated that it became fully guaranteed five days after the deal was signed. But the contract -- a copy of which was obtained by ESPN -- states that the bonus is guaranteed for injury right now. It will become fully guaranteed if Darnold remains on Seattle's 90-man roster five days after Super Bowl LX, which essentially follows their typical cadence for contract guarantees.
The discrepancy was significant. Had the bonus already been fully guaranteed, the Seahawks would have to eat $40.6 million in dead money if they were to cut Darnold after one season, a potentially prohibitive amount. The actual number is $25.6 million, still hefty but not an unreasonable sum if Darnold's debut season in Seattle were to go badly awry. In that event, Seattle could cut him at the start of next offseason -- as long as he's not injured -- and get out of the deal after one year and $37.5 million.
This means that what was true with Geno Smith after he signed his Seahawks contract in 2023 is also true with Darnold now: If he wants to see the second year of that deal, he'll have to earn it.
Darnold can also earn an additional $15 million in incentives over the life of the deal, with $5 million available each season via the same parameters.
He would get $500,000 apiece for hitting any of the following benchmarks: 100.0 or better passer rating (minimum 224 attempts), 28 or more touchdown passes, 4,000 or more passing yards and a 67.5% or better completion rate (minimum 224 attempts).
There's another $500,000 available each season for the Seahawks finishing in the top 10 in total offense, provided Darnold plays at least 70% of their offensive snaps in the regular season.
If Darnold meets that same playing time threshold, he would earn the highest of the following incentives: $500,000 for making the playoffs, $1 million for winning a divisional round game, $1.5 million for winning the conference title game or $2.5 million for winning the Super Bowl. He would have to also play in 70% of the offensive snaps in the given playoff game to qualify for any of the latter three bonuses.
Here's a year-by-year breakdown of the deal:
2025
Base salary: $5.3 million
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap number: $13.4 million
Incentives: up to $5 million
Darnold's base salary and workout bonus are fully guaranteed. Those amounts plus his $32 million signing bonus make up the $37.5 million that is fully guaranteed right now. There are two dummy years tacked onto the end of the deal that will automatically void; those exist to spread out the cap charges associated with his signing bonus.
Of Darnold's individual incentives worth $500,000 apiece, he hit three of those benchmarks last season. Thus, $1.5 million of those incentives are considered "likely to be earned," meaning they count against the cap right now. So the $5.3 million base salary, plus the $200,000 workout bonus, plus $6.4 million in signing bonus proration and the $1.5 million in incentives add up to a $13.4 million cap number.
2026
Base salary: $12.3 million
Roster bonus: $15 million
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap number: $33.9 million
Incentives: up to $5 million
Of the $12.3 million base salary, $2.5 million is guaranteed for injury now. It will become fully guaranteed if Darnold remains on Seattle's 90-man roster five days after Super Bowl LX. As mentioned, the $15 million bonus -- guaranteed for injury only as of now -- will vest into a full guarantee at that same time provided Darnold is still on the roster.
So if the Seahawks were to cut Darnold, they would have plenty of incentive to do so before Feb. 13. If they were to trade him, they could wait to do so until the actual roster bonus date -- which is the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March -- since any team that acquires him via trade before then would be on the hook for the bonus.
Added onto the $37.5 million that is already fully guaranteed, that $17.5 million in injury guarantees equals $55 million in overall guaranteed money.
2027
Base salary: $25.3 million
Roster bonus: $10 million
Workout bonus: $200,000
Cap number: $41.9 million
Incentives: up to $5 million
Darnold would earn the $10 million roster bonus if he remains with the Seahawks on the fifth day of the new league year in mid-March 2027. This is a standard roster bonus with no initial injury guarantee or February vesting date.