How the Seahawks’ Controversial Quarterback Gambles Redefined the Road to Super Bowl LX

In the unforgiving world of NFL quarterback evaluations, playing it safe often feels like the only option. Most teams cling to average signal-callers, haunted by the fear that shaking things up too soon might derail their hopes — even when they secretly know a Super Bowl is out of reach. But the Seattle Seahawks? They flipped the script. Over the last few years, this franchise has made gutsy quarterback moves that many wouldn’t dare, and guess what? It’s paying off big time, as they’re now headed to the Super Bowl. Give credit where it’s due — Seahawks GM John Schneider’s boldness, combined with patient ownership willing to weather the storms that come with high-profile trades. Turning Russell Wilson’s twilight into a treasure trove of draft picks, and swapping short-term fixes for real upgrades like Sam Darnold… it’s all been part of a master plan. Then there’s the coaching overhaul, with Mike Macdonald stepping in and swiftly transforming Seattle into NFC champions. It’s a blueprint that challenges the usual timid NFL approach, showing that sometimes, breaking free from the status quo is exactly what a franchise needs to rise. Interested in the full story on how Seattle rewrote the playbook? LEARN MORE.

Usually, when teams have a middle of the road quarterback, they hold on no matter the cost despite knowing deep down that they can’t go to a Super Bowl with him. Those making decisions generally don’t have enough time to make a quarterback change and survive it if it doesn’t hit big right away. So they play it safe.

The Seattle Seahawks have made two bold moves at quarterback in the past few years. And they’re going to the Super Bowl because of it.

Credit Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who has been Seattle’s GM since 2010, for not being scared. Also recognize Seattle ownership for being patient through both high-profile trades. The first trade was Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in March of 2022. That’s not a trade many teams would make, even if Wilson was slowing down and the Seahawks knew it. The Seahawks got two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick and a few players back in the trade too. Those picks turned into players like tackle Charles Cross and cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who were big parts of their fantastic season.

Geno Smith was the stopgap. He provided a couple good seasons but the Seahawks looked elsewhere. Teams like the Las Vegas Raiders are fine settling for a 35-year-old quarterback with a low ceiling, and they traded a third-round pick to Seattle for Smith. Smith struggled badly with Las Vegas, which the Seahawks probably saw coming. The Seahawks decided that Sam Darnold would be an upgrade after he had a good 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings, and they were right when they signed him to a three-year, $100.5 million deal. Darnold is going to Super Bowl LX as the Seahawks’ starter.

In addition to the quarterback moves, the Seahawks also made a big move at head coach. Pete Carroll had a great run in Seattle, but the Seahawks fired him two years ago, after consecutive straight 9-8 seasons. Teams often are too worried to make that move too. But the Seahawks landed Mike Macdonald as Carroll’s replacement, and he’s already a star as a defensive guru who has turned the Seahawks into NFC champions.

Maybe the Seahawks will show the way to other poor franchises who are unwilling to admit mistakes, or to see a better path forward. They stick with the status quo because that’s easy, and those making decisions believe that radical moves will cost them their jobs … and they’re generally right because the owners of those franchises can’t see a long-term plan through. So those teams probably won’t follow the Seahawks’ model. Even though Seattle just showed it can work, to great results.

Sam Darnold signed with the Seahawks this past offseason and led the team to Super Bowl LX. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

(Michael Owens via Getty Images)

Here are the winners and losers from the conference championship round:

WINNERS

Robert Kraft: Owners get too much credit for mostly anything in football. The recent trend of putting them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is strange.

But Kraft’s stature, as he stumps to be one of those owners in the Hall of Fame, got a pretty big boost.

It was one thing for Kraft’s team to ride Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to six Super Bowl titles. Doing it again with Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye looks good on the Patriots’ owner, especially after he made the bold decision to fire Jerod Mayo after one season because he wasn’t happy with the direction of the team during Mayo’s one season. He said it cost him financially to fire Mayo but he thought the chance to get Vrabel was best from a football aspect.

“I’m a fan first, and I thought this just isn’t the right situation, and that’s on me,” Kraft told “The Quick Snap” podcast. “Jerod’s a great guy, but I just didn’t want to go through a continuation of what happened. I really believed that hiring Mike gave us a chance quickly to put the team where it was.”

It’s a decision that changed the trajectory of the franchise.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Smith-Njigba had a great season for the Seattle Seahawks, and will likely win NFL Offensive Player of the Year in less than two weeks. But a Super Bowl appearance will truly stamp him as one of the NFL’s best receivers.

Over the next couple weeks there will be plenty of praise for JSN, who led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards in the regular season and had 153 yards and a touchdown in the Seahawks’ NFC championship game win. A first-round pick in 2023, Smith-Njigba improved in his second season and then made a massive leap in his third season. He’s about to be one of the headline stars of Super Bowl LX. An even larger audience will hear all about how he might have taken the title as the top receiver in football.

Josh McDaniels: As a head coach, McDaniels did not do well in two opportunities. As a coordinator, he’s on the verge of making history.

Steve Spagnuolo has won four Super Bowl rings as a coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, which is a record. McDaniels can tie him if the Patriots win Super Bowl LX. He has been a part of six championship teams with the Patriots, three of which he was the offensive coordinator for.

McDaniels’ role in the rapid development of Drake Maye has been one of the key stories of the NFL season. McDaniels won with Tom Brady, but Brady is widely considered the best quarterback of all time. Doing it with a new quarterback, and being on the verge of winning a fourth ring as a coordinator before the age of 50, would be a huge accomplishment.

LOSERS

Sean Payton: Payton has done an amazing job to build the Broncos back up to contender status. It’s even more impressive when you realize his highest paid player each of the last two seasons was Russell Wilson, who wasn’t even on the roster.

But in an AFC title game that had no room for error, Payton had one regrettable decision.

Payton not taking the field goal when he had a fourth-and-1 in the second quarter will be talked about for a while in Denver. The Broncos could have gone up 10-0, and with bad weather coming in for the second half, those points would have been extremely valuable. Payton went for it, they changed the call from a run to a pass when the Patriots had six players on the line, and the play went nowhere. Jarrett Stidham threw incomplete under pressure. The Broncos never scored again.

Maybe Payton will be back in an AFC championship game, but it’s not a guarantee. His legacy would have grown if he made a Super Bowl with Stidham replacing Bo Nix. The opportunity passed, and he has plenty of time now to second guess the decision.

Matthew Stafford: Stafford was very good in the NFC championship game. He threw for 374 yards against one of the best defenses in the NFL. He did everything he could. The loss is not on him, or even close.

But a Super Bowl, coming at the end of what is likely an NFL MVP season, would have pushed Stafford to an even higher level in terms of his career legacy. That would have given him two Super Bowl appearances with a shot at a second ring. If Stafford continues to play the Rams should be one of the NFL’s best teams again, but there’s no guarantee on anything. Especially for Stafford, who will be 38 years old next season. That’s an age in which a quarterback can decline quickly, even if Stafford still looks like he has a few more elite seasons left in him.

The NFC championship game was a fantastic game that finally turned on a fourth-down stop inside the 10-yard line for the Seahawks defense late in the fourth quarter. The result could have gone either way. But the Rams fell short, and we might look back on it being Stafford’s last shot at going to a Super Bowl.

Tennessee Titans: The Titans knew what they had in Mike Vrabel. He won NFL Coach of the Year with them. He consistently had his teams playing above their talent level. And Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk fired him, siding with a general manager who isn’t even there anymore in a power struggle.

The Titans have won six games in the two seasons after firing Vrabel. The Patriots won 17 games, including playoffs, this season and are heading to the Super Bowl. Vrabel was considered one of the NFL’s best coaches when he was at Tennessee and he has moved up the list in his first season with New England. The Titans hired Robert Saleh to be their head coach, and that looks like a good hire. But it’s unlikely Saleh is as good as Vrabel.