Seahawks coach weighs in on franchise-altering offseason

“You’ve just got to be flexible in how that works and be able to make those decisions when those opportunities arise,” Macdonald told reporters Tuesday at the NFL owners meeting. “And we did that.”

Macdonald added that the original plan was to sign Smith to an extension and keep him as the team's starter, but it quickly became clear that they were too far apart in negotations. After that realization, the Seahawks quickly shifted their attention to Darnold. While they were confident they could land him, those few days between trading Smith and signing Darnold were not easy on the nerves.

“It was a leap of faith to a certain extent. But we were confident in the options that were available at the time and obviously it helped that Sam’s opportunity worked out," Macdonald said. "We’re really fortunate that we got the situation that we kind of prioritized. So it was good.”

A similar situation unfolded with Metcalf, who signed a five-year, $150 million extension with the Steelers that the Seahawks were never going to match.

“Probably to an outside observer it seemed like it was really fast,” Macdonald said. “But kind of inside we were saying like ‘OK, this is kind of the end of the process that we went through with DK and felt like it was best for both parties.’”

One thing that hasn't changed for Macdonald is his expectations for his team. He believed the Seahawks could win a Super Bowl with Smith, and he also believes they can do so with Darnold.

“That’s the expectation, man,” Macdonald said. “Every time you step on the field, your expectation is to win. … If you go through this whole process not expecting to win, you’re not doing it the right way.”