NFL Exec Calls Seahawks 'Savvy' for Darnold, Kupp Contracts After Geno, Dk Trades

The Seattle Seahawks garnered praise from a pair of NFL executives for how they remade their offense this offseason.

"If you are Seattle, would you rather have Cooper Kupp, Sam Darnold, a second-round pick, a third-round pick and $10 million, or would you rather have Geno Smith and DK Metcalf?" one exec said to The Athletic's Mike Sando. "Does anybody think you are that different with Darnold, Kupp, the picks and $10 million? People probably think you are better now."

Another executive said trading Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders and then signing Darnold was a particularly "savvy" piece of business.

Of course, there's a plausible future in which Seattle's two biggest moves backfire.

Darnold is coming off his best season, but his struggles in the Minnesota Vikings' final two games were a potentially foreboding sign. And in Seattle, he'll no longer have two-time All Pro Justin Jefferson or a solid pass-blocking unit in front of him.

Kupp, meanwhile, will turn 32 in June after battling injuries and watching his numbers decline since his triple crown campaign in 2021.

Different doesn't always mean improved.

Seattle wasn't necessarily wrong to think it plateaued with Smith as the starting quarterback. The 34-year-old is a steady hand under center but doesn't raise his offense's ceiling very high.

The jury is also out on whether Metcalf will justify his new $132 million extension. That's a hefty fee for a pass-catcher who has yet to make an All-Pro team.

By now orienting the offense around Darnold and Kupp, the issue is that the Seahawks didn't make the unit that much better on paper. They're a team that's firmly in the middle of the pack rather than a top contender.

Maybe the arrival of Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator is the ingredient that will help maximize Seattle's free-agent additions and catapult the franchise back into the playoffs.