NFC Championship Puts Spotlight on Darnold, Stafford Contracts

The Seahawks are hosting and playing in their first NFC championship in 11 years. 

Sunday’s matchup against the NFC West rival Rams marks the latest chapter in Seattle’s $100 million offseason gamble on quarterback Sam Darnold, who now has the franchise just one win away from returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015.

Darnold, 28, led the Seahawks to a 14–3 regular-season record and the NFC’s No. 1 seed, after signing a three-year, $100.5 million contract in March. The on-field success is a familiar feeling for the No. 3 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft; last season Darnold was quarterback for the Vikings, who also had a 14–3 record but lost a divisional tiebreaker to the Lions.

Minnesota lost to the Rams in the wild-card round a year ago, and then let Darnold—who played the 2024 season on a one-year, $10 million deal—walk in free agency in favor of second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who had a salary-cap hit of just less than $5 million this season as part of his rookie contract. The Vikings missed the playoffs this year with an 8–9 record.

Seattle’s success has Darnold cashing in even more. He was set to make at least $37.5 million this season ($32 million signing bonus plus $5.5 million in salary and workout bonuses). But Darnold racked up $1.5 million in performance incentives during the regular season, and he secured a separate escalating bonus for making the playoffs: $500,000 initially, which has risen to $1 million for making the NFC title games. 

The extra pay could climb to $1.5 million for reaching the Super Bowl, and $2.5 million for winning. This season, Darnold has already made $40 million, and this year has taken his career earnings to more than $100 million.

Darnold’s success comes in the second season for Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who replaced Pete Carroll. In 2024, GM John Schneider—who started the same year as Carroll in 2010—added president of football operations to his title (previously EVP). Meanwhile, a potential franchise sale still looms over the Seahawks, who are controlled by Jody Allen, the sister of late team owner Paul Allen, who died in 2018. 

As the Seahawks rally around Darnold, the Rams are hoping for one more shot at a championship with veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, who will turn 38 on Feb. 7, the eve of Super Bowl LX.

Stafford is the betting favorite to win this year’s NFL MVP award (right ahead of Patriots QB Drake Maye, whom Stafford could face in the Super Bowl), but his status in Los Angeles was anything but certain this past offseason.

After four years with the Rams, including winning Super Bowl LVI, Stafford was originally set to make roughly $27 million during the 2025 season. The quarterback wanted a raise, but before giving it to him, the Rams let Stafford explore a trade, with the Raiders and Giants reportedly interested in a deal at the time.

Ultimately, no trade happened, and Stafford returned to Los Angeles with a restructured contract that guaranteed him $40 million this season. 

The Rams went 12–5 in the regular season, their third-straight winning record, and best since the same mark during the 2021 season in which they won the Super Bowl. Stafford threw for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns.

But no matter how the Rams perform on Sunday—or on Super Bowl Sunday if they get that far—Stafford’s future in Los Angeles will once again be a question mark after this season. His contract guarantees him another $40 million if he’s on the roster on the fifth day of the official league year, which is March 15.

That means the Rams have less than two months to decide whether they want to keep the veteran for another year at the high price point, or move on in search of a potentially younger and/or cheaper quarterback.

Whether Stafford is ready to move on from the Rams, two more victories this season would surely make whatever decision comes next easier to accept.