{"id":283987,"date":"2025-08-13T05:05:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T05:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/283987\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T05:05:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T05:05:15","slug":"klint-kubiak-helped-draw-sam-darnold-to-seahawks-drew-lock-entrenched-as-backup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/283987\/","title":{"rendered":"Klint Kubiak Helped Draw Sam Darnold To Seahawks; Drew Lock Entrenched As Backup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not in the quarterback market until they traded Geno Smith<\/a> days before free agency<\/a>, the Seahawks immediately became a contender for the top QB prize in this year\u2019s FA class. The offensive coordinator they hired quietly became a key component in this late-emerging pursuit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Seahawks had seen Smith extension talks break down<\/a>, leading to the team regrouping after trading its three-year starter to the Raiders for a third-round pick. Rather than spending weeks without an answer at the game\u2019 premier position, Seattle made a successful Sam Darnold<\/a> pitch. Darnold joined the team on a three-year, $100.5MM deal<\/a> \u2014 one that features a Seahawks escape hatch in February 2026.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Assessing Seahawks\u2019 2025 Offseason]<\/a><\/p>\n

Darnold became intrigued at the idea of reuniting with Kubiak, according to SI.com\u2019s Albert Breer<\/a>. The Broncos\u2019 quarterbacks coach during their disastrous first season with Russell Wilson<\/a> at the helm, Kubiak received a chance to regroup in San Francisco as Kyle Shanahan\u2018s pass-game coordinator in 2023. The Shanahans and Kubiaks go way back, obviously, though Klint had never coached with Kyle before. The 49ers then added Darnold on a one-year, $4.5MM deal in March 2023, and his year behind Brock Purdy<\/a> allowed for the then-underwhelming ex-No. 3 overall pick to regroup as well.<\/p>\n

Spending the season as Purdy\u2019s backup, Darnold developed a comfort level with the 49ers. Kubiak played a central role in that, per Breer. Kubiak, 38, had said Smith represented a \u201chuge draw\u201d for him<\/a>. The Seahawks hired Kubiak in late January<\/a>; by early March, the team needed to recruit another quarterback. Darnold will now attempt to make his Seattle stay a multiyear arrangement, and he will have scheme familiarity thanks to Kubiak.<\/p>\n

Seattle only authorized $37.5MM fully guaranteed to Darnold<\/a>. This bettered their Smith terms from 2023, but the contract\u2019s structure creates questions beyond 2025. The team can avoid a $17.5MM additional guarantee from vesting by moving Darnold off the roster by Feb. 12. This structure mirrors the Raiders\u2019 Derek Carr<\/a> extension from 2022; Las Vegas did use the escape hatch, cutting Carr before a much bigger guarantee vested in February 2023. The Seahawks then made a draft decision that would stand to affect Darnold\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

The team drafted Jalen Milroe<\/a> in Round 3, doing so after signing Drew Lock<\/a> to return as a backup. Lock is on a two-year, $5MM deal ($2.25MM guaranteed<\/a>). While Milroe represents the long-term threat to Darnold\u2019s job security \u2014 to the point the Seahawks informed Darnold about<\/a> the pick \u2014 The Athletic\u2019s Michael-Shawn Dugar notes<\/a> Lock is secure in his place as the team\u2019s backup entering the season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lock has played ahead of Milroe throughout training camp. The dual-threat Alabama prospect entered the draft with a high ceiling, particularly when compared to a mostly maligned QB class this year, but is viewed as a developmental option<\/a>. Milroe will certainly be on Seattle\u2019s 53-man roster, but a role as the third-stringer appears in place to open the season.<\/p>\n

How Milroe\u2019s development unfolds this season will be a key storyline to follow in Seattle. Significant 2025 progress could lead to a major Seahawks decision on Darnold\u2019s contract by February. For now, though, a Darnold-Lock-Milroe depth chart is in place.<\/p>\n

Darnold\u2019s history of missing time certainly keeps Lock a key figure in Seattle; Darnold missed 10 starts as a Jet and was down for five games with the 2021 Panthers. He lost the 2022 Carolina gig to Baker Mayfield<\/a>, but a high ankle sprain kept him out for much of that season. Darnold helped his free agency stock by playing every Vikings game last season, but his past health issues are quite relevant regarding Lock\u2019s chances of adding to his 28-start total.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not in the quarterback market until they traded Geno Smith days before free agency, the Seahawks immediately became…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2081],"tags":[2868,7,753,6,1878,238,237,261,2635],"class_list":{"0":"post-283987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-seahawks","8":"tag-drew-lock","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jalen-milroe","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sam-darnold","13":"tag-seahawks","14":"tag-seattle","15":"tag-seattle-seahawks","16":"tag-seattleseahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115019718556159203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}