Sam Darnold’s 2024 was one of the best renaissance seasons in recent memory with the 2018 third overall pick making the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. The Vikings won 14 games and made the playoffs, but two straight rocky performances by Darnold to end the season soured what was a great year in Minnesota.
All signs are pointing to the quarterback hitting the free agent market, and he recently spoke about potentially joining a new team and what being a Viking was like.
Sam Darnold Discusses Free Agency, Playing for Minnesota
Darnold was drafted at No. 3 by the New York Jets in 2018 as the second quarterback in what turned out to be one of the best quarterback classes in NFL history.
He started 13 games as a rookie, posting a 4-9 record while throwing for 2,865 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. The next two years in New York were marred with poor coaching and the infamous “seeing ghosts” hot-mic moment against New England.
The Jets fired head coach Adam Gase after the 2020 season, and Darnold was traded to Carolina for future draft picks. In two years with the Carolina Panthers, he started 17 games (appeared in 18) with an 8-9 record while throwing for 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Darnold started the final six games of 2022 after entering the season as fellow 2018 NFL Draft pick Baker Mayfield’s backup.
His days as a starter appeared to be done when he signed with San Francisco in 2023 to back up Brock Purdy. He started the regular-season finale but didn’t see much playing time beyond that. That year was a valuable learning experience for Darnold and he parlayed that into a one-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota.
After signing, the Vikings drafted QB J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in 2024. They were expected to potentially name him the Week 1 starter, but a knee injury in the first preseason game gave Darnold the job.
He started every game of the season for the first time in his career and threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He had the highest completion percentage of his career (66.2%) and was ranked No. 12 in PFSN’s QB+ metric.
Darnold recently spoke to RG on what he attributes to his resurgent 2024 season. “I think it’s just the work I’ve put in my entire career. It’s really about just trusting that process. Trusting the work I put in the offseason, how I work during the season and that’s pretty much it, just trusting that.”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell unlocked Darnold’s ability, and the quarterback spoke about how his coach operated.
“Kevin O’Connell’s awesome. Ever since I got there, he was so hands-on with how we were going to read things, how I was going to play the position, and just his methodical work that he puts in throughout the week, just game-planning, I have so much respect for the amount of time he puts in, to just be able to put us in great situations on Sunday.”
O’Connell was recently named Coach of the Year after winning 14 games with a journeyman quarterback.
Darnold is set to hit free agency and will be the top quarterback on the market. PFSN has him listed as the 10th-best available player, but it’s unlikely he’ll sign a major money contract after back-to-back bad games to end the season.
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The seven-year vet is preparing with his agent, but doesn’t have anything worth noting, “I think right now, just working with my agent. I need to really just continue to talk to him and hash out those details on what we’re kind of looking for. That’s really it. I’ve had a couple of conversations, but nothing groundbreaking, nothing worth reporting about.”
Free agency begins in the middle of March — Darnold’s name will be in the news until he signs with a team. Las Vegas and Pittsburgh are potential landing spots as both teams need a quarterback.