Long before quarterback Sam Darnold helped the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX this past February, both the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings decided they didn’t view him as a long-term answer at the position.
During a recent appearance on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, Darnold reflected on his tenures with the Jets and the Vikings.
Sam Darnold wanted to be a one-club man?
“I think the dream for a player is you want to stay with the same franchise for your whole career,” Darnold explained, per Eric Edholm of the NFL’s website. “Maybe not; at least that’s what I was kinda thinking. Even if we were trashing New York, I wanted to go and make it right. I wanted to go and win Super Bowls with the Jets. Obviously, that didn’t happen, that wasn’t in the stars for me, but it’s what I wanted; that was the dream.”
The Jets made Darnold the third overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, but they traded him to the Carolina Panthers after the 2020 season and after he famously admitted to seeing “ghosts” during a game. Later, he led the 2024 Vikings to a 14-3 record and a playoff berth. However, his nightmare performances over Minnesota’s final two games of that season resulted in the Vikings handing the offense over to 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy last offseason.
Sam Darnold understands why Vikings let him go
“I get where [former Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah] was coming from. I totally do,” Darnold said. “You see it with a lot of teams. …These rookie quarterbacks and their rookie deals, trying to strike hot while you have a rookie quarterback so that you can pay other guys around him to get the team really good. I get that part of it, and I get, also, drafting a guy in the first round and having a belief that he’s the guy. So for me, I kind of had to put that hat where it’s like, I understand. I totally get where they’re coming from. Going back to the beginning, everything happens for a reason. There is a part of that, too, where it’s like, OK, I’m just not supposed to be in Minnesota this next year, and that’s OK with me.”
Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5M contract to join the Seahawks last offseason, and that deal now looks like an absolute bargain for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Meanwhile, recent reports have indicated that free-agency signing Kyler Murray may be on track to serve as the Vikings’ 2026 Week 1 QB1 over McCarthy.
While many don’t blame the Jets for giving up on Darnold all those years ago, some within the Vikings may still be wondering what could have been had they decided in early 2025 to stick with the 29-year-old. What’s done is done, and Darnold is now the proud owner of a Super Bowl championship ring.