Reporter addresses narrative regarding Seahawks potentially starting Jalen Milroe over Sam Darnold

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Armando Salguero of OutKick are among NFL writers who recently suggested the Seattle Seahawks' history shows the club could start rookie Jalen Milroe over free-agent acquisition Sam Darnold in Week 1 of the upcoming season. 

Specifically, then-Seattle head coach Pete Carroll named 2012 third-round draft choice Russell Wilson his Week 1 starter as a first-year pro months after the Seahawks signed Matt Flynn to a big-money deal. 

For a piece published Thursday, Seahawks reporter Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic explained why Milroe won't follow in Wilson's footsteps this summer.

"Flynn’s contract, even adjusted for the rising salary cap (his three-year, $26M deal would equate to $60M on the 2025 cap), wasn’t nearly as lucrative as Darnold’s three-year, $100.5M deal. Darnold is also a better player and far more proven commodity than Flynn was," Dugar wrote. "Wilson was also a more refined passer than Milroe, who is entering the league with questions about his ability to do the basics the position requires: throw accurately, on time and go through progressions."

Draft analysts and experts labeled Milroe a long-term project for the future before he fell to the third round of a player-selection process responsible for what was widely advertised to be a weak quarterback class. Seattle could escape Darnold's contract as soon as next offseason if he routinely performs as poorly as he played in his final two games with the Minnesota Vikings. Nevertheless, the fact that Milroe spent the majority of voluntary springtime workouts serving as Seattle's QB3 behind journeyman Drew Lock likely says plenty about the club's pecking order.

"Carroll allowed for a quarterback competition (in 2012)," Dugar added. "Second-year coach Mike Macdonald is not doing so." 

Macdonald seemingly meant it when he said during a Tuesday radio interview that it's "crazy" to believe he'd consider having Darnold compete with Milroe from the start of training camp through Seattle's final preseason game. While Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted that Milroe could receive starts if the Seahawks' 2025 season begins "circling the drain," Macdonald has no reason to even think about such a scenario playing out before his team begins its summer break.