NFL insider expands on if Seahawks could start rookie Jalen Milroe over Sam Darnold

During a Tuesday appearance on Seattle Sports 710 AM, Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald essentially scoffed at the idea that rookie Jalen Milroe or backup Drew Lock could compete with Sam Darnold for the team's starting quarterback job this summer. 

For a mailbag published on Wednesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated expanded on why fans shouldn't expect Milroe to make starts for the Seahawks anytime soon unless disaster strikes the club later this year. 

"I understand the buzz and clamoring for Jalen Milroe," Breer wrote. "He’s a ridiculous athlete and outstanding kid. He was always going to turn some heads. The Seattle Seahawks also thought enough of him to take him in the third round, which is definitely not nothing. That said, he’s raw, and assimilating to Klint Kubiak’s offense, which is centered on detail and precision, is different than Alabama. The starter in Seattle, Sam Darnold, has played in offenses like Kubiak’s the past few years and was even with Kubiak in San Francisco, where Kubiak was pass-game coordinator in 2023."

Darnold received a three-year, $100.5M contract from the Seahawks back in March, and he later acknowledged that one reason he chose Seattle in free agency was his relationship with Kubiak (Seattle's offensive coordinator). Chatter about Darnold possibly being in danger of losing the Seattle QB1 job surfaced after he endured a rough outing during a recent organized team activity practice. Still, Macdonald insisted on Tuesday that "Sam's our starting quarterback."

Also on Wednesday, Kevin Patra of the NFL's website noted that Milroe was "squarely running as QB3 in OTAs open to the media" and "has a ways to go before he's ready to contend with Darnold." Before the Seahawks selected Milroe as the 92nd overall pick in this year's draft, numerous analysts and reporters had mentioned that he would be a project for the future with any club. 

"For Milroe to start this year (absent an injury to Darnold)," Breer continued, "it’d have to be a situation where the Seahawks’ season was circling the drain and the staff wanted to get a look at what it has in him headed into 2026."

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Armando Salguero of OutKick are among NFL writers who aren't completely buying what Macdonald tried to sell on Tuesday, in part because Seattle could escape Darnold's deal as soon as next offseason. It remains to be seen if Milroe can improve as a passer quickly enough to give Macdonald and Co. something to think about before Seattle begins preparing for its Week 1 game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 7.