Quarterback Sam Darnold made the most of his first year in Minnesota. Which gave him an opportunity in Seattle.
Where he absolutely made the most of it, winning the Super Bowl.
So what’s his personal plan for 2026?
“I think I can always get better,” Darnold told reporters on Thursday. “There were a lot of things for me like moving on in my progressions and working from one field to the other. I felt like I was throwing behind some targets, especially if I was going left to right.
“There were a couple throws in the Super Bowl that I’d like to have back, and then not only during the Super Bowl, but before that as well, where I just missed some guys going through my progressions. So I think just being calm with my feet and making sure my feet don’t get super wide. A lot of guys like to keep their base wide, but my base has always been wide, and sometimes I get too wide. So, just making sure that I keep my base with the hip width apart, is going to make me a little bit more accurate. Just working on little things like that and always working on the deep ball every offseason as well.”
Darnold sees getting better as an annual challenge.
“There’s always going to [improve],” he said. “This game is so tough, so difficult, and there’s so much that goes on for us as quarterbacks mentally. I think making sure when we get to the game that everything physically is just muscle memory, and that’s why you work so hard in the offseason so that you’re not thinking about those things when you get out there on Sunday.”
It worked for Darnold last year, erasing the narrative that he can’t show up in the biggest moments. Not that it mattered to him.
“For me, I never paid attention to stuff like that,” Darnold said. “I’ve been very confident in myself. I’ve been very confident in my teammates and the coaches that I have. I don’t allow myself to really pay attention to anything like that. If I do catch wind of it, I have my process on how to handle that. Like I said, it’s just about handling my process and doing it my way, so that when I get out there, it’s not about what I’ve done or what I’m going to do, it’s about what I’m doing right now. I think if I just continue to have that mindset as we go on, we’ll be just fine.”
Even so, he continues to be on a year-to-year arrangement in Seattle, with no new contract (yet) despite last year’s Super Bowl win. He’ll make $27.5 million this year, with up to $5 million available in incentives. Even if Darnold earns every penny, he’s still barely north of 50 percent of the top of the market.
Unless he gets an extension, 2026 becomes an important year for Darnold. Regress, and the Seahawks could swap him out for, say, Baker Mayfield (who lit up the Seattle defense during the 2025 season). Perform well again (with a new offensive coordinator), and Darnold could get the kind of contract that will secure his future in Seattle.