NFL analyst claims Seahawks lined up Sam Darnold move before trading Geno Smith

NFL analyst Mike Florio believes the Seattle Seahawks already had a deal in place with quarterback Sam Darnold before trading away Geno Smith. The Seahawks dealt away Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders in March in exchange for the 92nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Shortly after, Seattle inked former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. Florio revealed to former New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty on "Pro Football Talk" that he believes Seattle already had a deal with Darnold in place before making the move to trade away Smith.

"I think they set up the Sam Darnold thing before they agreed to trade Geno Smith, even though that was days before they were allowed to talk to him," Florio said (1:06).

"There's no way they're trading their starting quarterback without knowing that they have an acceptable deal in place for his replacement. I don't think any team would have done that."

Smith reunites with former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll in Las Vegas. As for Darnold, he lands his big contract after having the best season of his career with the Vikings.

After signing a one-year deal with Minnesota last season, Darnold threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His efforts were good enough to lead the Vikings to a 14-win season and a playoff appearance.

Mike Macdonald excited to work with Sam Darnold in Seattle

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Sam Darnold lands in Seattle, where he'll play under coach Mike Macdonald, who was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio. The coach expressed his excitement about working with his new quarterback in 2025.

"I think it's interesting because I haven't had a relationship with Sam before a couple weeks ago, and it's been awesome so far, our conversations," Macdonald said.

"It's been really cool to hear about people that have had a relationship with him in his life kind of throughout his journey, and all positive things they say about him. All the way back to his college days at USC, we have some of those folks still in our building right now."

Seattle finished 10-7 last season, second in the NFC West, missing the playoffs after losing a tie-breaker to the Los Angeles Rams, who won the division with the same record.

The organization is hoping that, with what they believe to be an upgrade at quarterback, they'll be able to get the NFC West crown back and make a playoff run in 2025.