Scheduling two interviews with Mike Macdonald in a two-day period, the Seahawks effectively displayed their interest in the two-year Ravens defensive coordinator. That proved to be telling for the franchise’s future.
The Seahawks are hiring Macdonald as their next head coach, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The team will go from employing the league’s oldest active HC, in Pete Carroll, to the youngest. Macdonald is 36. Wednesday’s second meeting became themed around a hire, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who notes a deal is being finalized.
Baltimore’s AFC championship game loss to Kansas City removed any restrictions Macdonald would have had regarding interview scheduling, but Rapoport adds the Seahawks were willing to wait on him if the Ravens held seed and qualified for Super Bowl LVIII. That did not prove necessary, and Macdonald can get to work on assembling a staff. As Macdonald-Seahawks conversations continue today, coordinator candidates are undoubtedly coming up. With the team in that phase, the Commanders are now the only club with a coaching vacancy remaining.
Being a year younger than Sean McVay and Jerod Mayo, Macdonald is 36 years younger than Carroll, who became only the fourth coach to lead an NFL team at age 72. Carroll had announced intentions to stay for a 15th season, though this was believed to be a deviation from what the Super Bowl-winning HC expressed during the 2023 campaign. Even as Carroll pushed to keep his job in the days following the season, the Seahawks moved on. GM John Schneider, who now wields full personnel control for the first time, will go with a candidate who was on many teams’ lists this year.
Macdonald will sign a six-year contract with the NFC West franchise, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports. While this is not a rebuilding situation, the Seahawks will still show a long-term commitment to their young HC. Four- and five-year deals are a bit more common in the NFL, though some six-year pacts have emerged in the recent past. Kyle Shanahan signed one as the 49ers were rebuilding. So did Dan Campbell in 2021. The Panthers just gave Dave Canales a six-year deal. Carroll did not leave the Seahawks in need of an overhaul, however, making this contract term interesting.
The Seahawks’ investment comes after Macdonald displayed his value during his second Ravens stint. Baltimore’s defense ranked first this season, which came after a third-place finish in scoring defense in 2022. The Ravens ranked in the…