The Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t have a starting quarterback under contract for the 2025 season, but they may be making a significant move towards getting one according to a recent report. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the Steelers are expected to put an offer in on Sam Darnold.
“The Steelers are expected to make an offer to pending free agent Sam Darnold, per source,” Russini wrote. “Many around the league believe Darnold will wind up in Seattle, but Pittsburgh is doing its due diligence on any potential options ahead of the new league year.”
SI.com’s Albert Breer reported that the Steelers had interest in Darnold earlier today, though he didn’t go as far as to say there was an expected offer. Like Russini, he also stated that the Seahawks seem like the favorite to make it happen.
Given that interest is shifting to Darnold, it would seem that Justin Fields is expected to test the free agent market, as Russini reported yesterday. Reading the tea leaves, it seems like the Steelers may be forced to move on from Fields so they aren’t left with zero good starting options once the market starts moving on Monday with the legal tampering period.
For what it’s worth, Russini posted that the Steelers were still interested in re-signing Fields.
Darnold is a pending free agent of the Minnesota Vikings. They were weighing their option on putting the franchise tag on him, but opted to move on with 2024 first-round QB J.J. McCarthy on the roster.
Darnold made himself a lot of money with the Vikings last year, leading them to a 14-3 record with a 66.2 completion percentage, 4,319 passing yards and 35 TDs to 12 INTs. If it weren’t for a rough last couple of games including the playoff loss, he may have been retained by the Vikings. Regardless, he is the top option on an otherwise weak FA quarterback market.
When looking at Darnold, it’s hard to ignore the first six seasons of his career. Prior to going 14-3 last season, he was a combined 21-35 as a starter. He got opportunities with three other teams and it never worked out.
Will the Steelers make an offer large enough to beat out the rest of the market? If the reporting is to be believed, the Seahawks are expected to be the top player in the market after trading Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders. While they have a record amount of cap space for the franchise norm, Darnold would eat up a solid chunk of that space.
According to Over The Cap, Darnold’s contract valuation is expected to be at about $38.2 million per season. That is slightly below the $40.2 franchise tag amount and would place him as the 16th highest-paid quarterback in the league. That would also make him the highest-paid player in Steelers franchise history. That seems a bit rich for how the Steelers typically do things, but they are in need of some significant changes.
Former NFL agent Joel Corry put together a projected package of three-years, $127.5 million ($42.5 million per year) worth up to $135 million with incentives.
At 27 years old, I would imagine Darnold is looking for at least a few years on his next contract. The Steelers would effectively be tying themselves to Darnold for the next couple seasons at the very least. They could always still draft and develop the next guy behind him and use Darnold as a high-end bridge quarterback to give them a chance to compete in the short term.
