Seahawks' Sam Darnold receives strange trade value projection from ESPN

The Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl 60, and while Sam Darnold didn't win Super Bowl MVP, he was a huge reason they had such a successful season.

He thrived in the playoffs and made the Pro Bowl for his regular-season production, and proved he's good enough to win a Super Bowl. It was the first year of his contract, and he more than proved his worth.

However, ESPN's Bill Barnwell gave Darnold an odd trade value projection, as the Seahawks QB was somehow not worth a first-round pick.

Sam Darnold is somehow not worth a first-round pick

"Missing out: Sam Darnold, LB Ernest Jones IV, RB Jadarian Price," Barnwell writes. "Darnold played well enough to lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl and was excellent for stretches in 2025, but would teams really be willing to give up a first-round pick for the well-traveled Jets draftee?"

Darnold, formerly a first-round pick by the New York Jets, has turned his career around over the last couple of seasons, producing for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 and then for the Seahawks in 2025.

He earned his second Pro Bowl nod, won the Super Bowl, threw for 4,048 passing yards with 25 touchdowns with a 67.7 completion percentage. He did have the most turnovers in the NFL, but he eliminated that issue in the postseason.

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Across three games, against the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and New England Patriots, Darnold threw for 672 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions with a 61.5% completion rate.

The 29-year-old quarterback should be worth a first-round pick. While he might not be the most exciting QB, and his turnover issue might be a bit of a red flag, what he did this past season is more than good enough to justify Darnold being worth a first-rounder.

This is a strange projection from Barnwell, as even though Darnold's history is a little questionable, for how good he was this past season, for someone at the most important position in sports to not be worth a first after what he did is a very odd evaluation.

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