Mike Macdonald: Sam Darnold's best days are ahead of him

The best season of Sam Darnold's career ended with back-to-back duds, but the Seahawks aren't focused on the final chapter of the quarterback's 2024 season.

Seattle traded Geno Smith to the Raiders in order to make space for Darnold to become their starting quarterback and he officially signed his three-year deal with the team on Thursday. A press conference followed that signing and head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters that the team is confident that Darnold's play for most of last year was just scratching the surface of what he will do in the future.

"I think Sam's best days are ahead of him, and I think you've seen that through the course of his career," Macdonald said, via the team's website. "How he's able to grow as a player. Talking with some are defensive guys, we felt him out there. When you play quarterbacks, or a quarterback is on your team, you want to feel them in the game. And you definitely feel Sam's presence and poise, competitiveness, accuracy, like the downfield threat, that's definitely a part of it. And then being able to run the show, too, operationally; Sam can do it with the best of them as well."

Many have credited Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell with getting the best out of Darnold, but the Seahawks are betting that it was more about the player than the system and the results of that bet will determine their immediate future.