How Sam Darnold is set to become one of the rarest quarterbacks in Seattle Seahawks history

It didn’t take long for the Seattle Seahawks have found their Geno Smith replacement at quarterback.

On the first day of the “legal tampering” period before the actual start of free agency, the Seahawks agreed to a three-year contract north of $100 million for Sam Darnold, who’s coming off an unexpected 14-win season in his lone season as Minnesota Vikings starter. It’s a Geno Smith-esque turnaround after being a bust with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before serving as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers.

A contract of that magnitude strongly indicates that regardless of whether or not the Seahawks take a quarterback in next month’s NFL Draft, Darnold will be the start in Week 1. If that materializes as expected, it’ll end a lengthy and unusual drought for the Seahawks compared to the rest of the NFL.

It’s been two decades since the last time the Seahawks started a first-round pick at quarterback

Yes, it’s true. The Seahawks not only haven’t had a first-round quarterback start any games for them in a long time. You have to go way back in time. Like, pre-iPhone era. We’re talking December 26, 2004 at what was then known as Qwest Field. We’ll get to that trivia answer a little later.

Seattle has been the only team in the NFL not to start a first-round pick at quarterback over the past 20 seasons; this is a longer gap than when the New England Patriots had Tom Brady. Matt Hasselbeck, Seneca Wallace, Charlie Frye, Charlie Whitehurst, Tarvaris Jackson, Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, and Drew Lock were all taken no earlier than the second round by their original drafting teams.

Furthermore, the Seahawks have not so much as played a former first-rounder at quarterback on a regular season team during that span. J.P. Losman was rostered in 2010 but he never played a snap. Only the Las Vegas Raiders have not started a first-rounder at least once in the 2020s.

Who was the last former first-round pick to start at quarterback for the Seahawks?

Trent Dilfer, No. 6 overall pick in the 1994 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, deputized for an injured Matt Hasselbeck when the Seahawks hosted the Arizona Cardinals with playoff implications at stake for Seattle.

Dilfer was just 10/26 for 128 yards and an interception, but Shaun Alexander rushed for over 150 yards and three touchdowns as the Seahawks hung on for a 24-21 win over the Cardinals on their way to their first of four consecutive NFC West titles. The game-sealing play came on a Dilfer scramble on 3rd and 7, which gave Seattle a first down and set up a series of victory formation kneel-downs.

This was Dilfer’s final appearance in a Seahawks uniform before leaving for the Cleveland Browns.

When is the last time the Seahawks started one of their own first-round picks at quarterback?

Barring the use of a first-round pick in this year’s draft, it’ll soon be 30 years since the Seahawks’ last game in which one of their first-round quarterbacks was in the starting lineup.

On a Sunday night showdown in Jacksonville, which was coincidentally also in Week 16, the Seahawks lost 20-13 to the Jaguars as Rick Mirer completed just 16/31 for 156 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Mirer was shipped to the Chicago Bears in 1997 for a draft pick that was later used in a separate deal to land cornerback Shawn Springs.

The only Seahawks first-round draft picks at quarterback remain Mirer and Dan McGwire. Enough said about those two.

How many first-round quarterbacks have played for the Seahawks?

Only five. Dilfer, Mirer, McGwire, Kelly Stouffer, and Bill Munson (who never started but did play on the 1976 Seahawks). Obviously Dilfer, Munson, and Stouffer were first-rounders from other teams. The common theme was that not a single one of these starters took the Seahawks to the playoffs.

Stathead says the Seahawks are tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars (an expansion franchise from the 1990s, mind you!) for fewest first-round quarterbacks who’ve played in a game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

Assuming Darnold is starting at literally any point in his Seahawks tenure, he’ll be only the Seahawks’ fifth first-round starting quarterback in franchise history. If he’s the Week 1 starter, he’ll be the first since Rick Mirer’s final season in 1996. Will he be the first to lead Seattle to postseason play? Well you’re not getting that answer for awhile.