Seahawks Took Mike Macdonald From Ravens By Offering Historic Contract

Details have emerged from Mike Macdonald's head coach contract with the Seahawks, which lured away the former Ravens defensive coordinator.

The Seattle Seahawks may have taken away former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald from the Baltimore Ravens, but it took a historically large contract in order to hire the new head coach. 

It has been revealed that Macdonald's contract is the largest in the history of the NFL to be given to a first-time head coach. 

Mike Macdonald was lured away from the Baltimore Ravens by a historically large head coach contract offer from the Seattle Seahawks.  / FanStreamSports.com

“My understanding is this is the highest paid—I don’t know what the number is exactly—but he’ll be the highest paid first-time coach ever,” NFL Network said. “He had two teams there—when you have two bidders, you can bid one against the other one. That’s the kind of stuff that can happen there. So Mike Macdonald got himself not only a long deal but also a lucrative deal.”

Regarding the other rumored bidder, the Washington Commanders were linked to Macdonald before losing him to Seattle and then stealing rival defensive coordinator Dan Quinn away from the Dallas Cowboys to become the team's next head coach instead. 

As for the Ravens, Baltimore is moving on from Macdonald by promoting former inside linebackers coach Zach Orr into the vacant defensive coordinator role. Orr was once an All-Pro linebacker for the Ravens and was with the organization from 2014-2016, but he retired in his prime due to a congenital spine and neck condition that Baltimore's staff discovered when he was just 24 years old. 

Patience Is A Virtue For Ravens and Newly-Hired Zach Orr

Since retiring as a player, Orr has remained active in the Ravens organization. Orr started as a defensive analyst for the team back in 2017 and has now climbed the ranks to become a defensive coordinator at age 31, just seven years after his medically forced retirement. 

Now, Orr will look to prove he has what it takes to not only fill Macdonald's shoes but surpass him and become a head coach himself in the near future.