RENTON, Wash. (AP) — First and foremost, Sam Darnold wants it to be known that he’s not a good golfer.
The Seattle Seahawks quarterback, who signed a $100.5 million, three-year contract in March, said he’s a 10 handicap. The 27-year-old spends time on the course whenever he can during the offseason, and hopes to hike and keeping trying out restaurants in the Seattle area that he now calls home.
Oh, and about that home.
“We bought a place, so to be honest, been moving a ton of furniture in,” Darnold said Wednesday.
That’s been the focus of Darnold’s offseason outside of football. Five days into organized team activities, Darnold's top priority has been learning first-year offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s playbook.
Kubiak and Darnold were both with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, but much has changed since that season in the Bay Area, when Kubiak was a passing game coordinator and Darnold a backup.
Kubiak spent last season as the New Orleans Saints' offensive coordinator. Darnold, meanwhile, enjoyed his finest NFL season, setting career highs in passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage while guiding the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record.
“You see the tape, the tape tells it all. He grew a lot,” Kubiak said. “He took an opportunity there and ran with it, and he’s been doing a great job for us here.”
Such praise only reinforces the obvious: Darnold is Seattle's starter. Coach Mike Macdonald said as much during an interview with KIRO-AM on Tuesday, when he was asked whether anything other than an injury to Darnold would prevent him from starting the season opener on Sept. 7.
“Sam’s our starting quarterback,” Macdonald said. “We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”
Darnold said he's a fan of the other quarterbacks in the meeting room, Jalen Milroe and Drew Lock. During the NFL draft in April, Macdonald called Darnold to let him know about the team's plans to select Milroe out of Alabama in the third round.
It was a gesture of respect to the veteran QB, who signed just a month earlier.
“I think at the end of the day, communication is key,” Darnold said. “But for him to be able to call and communicate about that, it was cool.”
Darnold learned not to get rattled easily during stints in two big markets. He played in college at Southern California and then was drafted by the New York Jets, where he was considered a bust. He moved on to Carolina and San Francisco before resurrecting his career in Minnesota.
Now, he comes to Seattle as a leader and face of the franchise. Working in Kubiak's system has eased his transition, but Kubiak was quick to point out — without giving away any secrets — that the Seahawks’ offense will be uniquely its own.
Darnold is seeking to absorb as much information as he can, and for now, he's leaving the golf clubs stowed away.
“Learning a ton right now,” Darnold said. “Just building with the guys and just taking it one day at a time.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Andrew Destin, The Associated Press
