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Darnold's ranking bump arrives as his agent enters extension season with Seattle holding cap room and Minnesota watching closely.
68.4%
of his attempts and converted
43%
of third downs
$4.9 million
guaranteed with
$2.1 million
in per-game roster bonuses
Sam Darnold moved up one position in Fox Sports' weekly quarterback stock market following Week 7, a modest climb that nonetheless puts his name in circulation among coordinators, agents, and front offices sizing the 2025 quarterback market. The Seahawks starter is now entering the visibility window where performance becomes leverage.
Fox's stock report, published Tuesday, elevated Darnold based on individual metrics from Seattle's most recent game. The network's rankings weigh completion percentage, pressure-to-sack rate, and third-down conversion on designed rollouts. Darnold improved in two of three categories week-over-week. He completed 68.4% of his attempts and converted 43% of third downs, both above his season average. The sack rate held flat at 6.8%.
The signal matters less for Seattle's playoff odds than for the attention now flowing toward Darnold's contract status. He is playing the final year of a bridge deal signed in March, worth $4.9 million guaranteed with $2.1 million in per-game roster bonuses. His agent, CAA's Mike McCartney, represents four other starting quarterbacks and typically begins extension conversations in November. McCartney's recent moves include a $160 million Baker Mayfield extension and a $212 million Jared Goff deal, both for reclamation projects who found stable offensive schemes.
Seattle's offensive staff is led by coordinator Ryan Grubb, hired in February from Washington after Justin Herbert publicly praised his route concepts. Grubb runs a system with heavy pre-snap motion and mid-route option tags, the kind of structure that raised Geno Smith's completion rate 9.2 percentage points in 2022. Darnold is now the second quarterback to operate in Grubb's NFL adaptation of that scheme. His improvement timing is convenient. Minnesota, Darnold's former employer, is preparing to extend Jordan Love and has shown interest in bridge quarterbacks who can operate in Kyle Shanahan derivatives. Seattle signed Darnold after Minnesota declined to offer a second contract following two competent but unspectacular seasons as Kirk Cousins' primary backup.
The Seahawks are 4-3 through seven weeks, one game behind San Francisco in the NFC West. Team president Chuck Arnold has not commented publicly on Darnold's contract situation, but Seattle's salary cap shows $38 million in space projected for 2025, enough to extend Darnold or pursue a veteran replacement without restructuring existing deals. The team has historically waited until Week 12 to open extension talks with pending free agents, a timeline that puts any serious negotiation in the third week of November.
What to watch: Darnold's next three games come against divisional opponents, all of whom will have bye-week film of Grubb's third-down package. McCartney will attend Seattle's November 10 game against Arizona, per two people familiar with his travel schedule. Minnesota's offensive staff will be on its own bye that week, and the Vikings have a history of scouting former quarterbacks during available windows. Seattle's kit sponsor, Nike, renews its partnership in January and has previously tied endorsement clauses to postseason quarterback performance.
The stock market ranking is a media signal, not a contract comp. But it is the kind of media signal that circulates in group texts among the 32 general managers who will rebuild rosters in March.
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