Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold entered last offseason in a unique position.
In 2024, he led the Vikings to a 14–3 record and completely transformed the narrative of his career from a first-round bust to a trustworthy veteran quarterback with incredible arm talent. But the way his season ended did cast doubt about how real his progress had been all year.
In the regular-season finale—a Week 18 matchup to decide the NFC’s No. 1 seed—Darnold struggled, missing plenty of open receivers and throwing for just 166 yards. The following week, in the Vikings’ season-ending 27–9 loss to the Rams in the wild-card round, Darnold was sacked nine times for an NFL playoff record of 82 yards.
The Vikings had a few options last offseason at quarterback: bring back Darnold, sign Daniel Jones, who ended the season in their locker room after being cut by the Giants, sign Aaron Rodgers or hand the keys to the offense to J.J. McCarthy, the No. 10 pick of the 2024 draft.
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In the end, the Vikings chose McCarthy, a decision that, well, doesn’t look like the right one in the short term. McCarthy’s career is off to a historically bad start while Darnold, who signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks in March, ranks fourth in passer rating (106.2) and has led Seattle to an 8–3 record.
On Friday, two days before Darnold and the Seahawks battle the Vikings at Lumen Field, the quarterback was asked if returning to Minnesota was a feasible option for him in the offseason.
“I think for me, it was just understanding what was being talked about ... behind closed doors with people over there and my people,” Darnold said [via ESPN’s Brady Henderson]. “But at the end of the day, I made the decision to come [to Seattle] and I’m very, very happy about that decision and excited to continue to work the way that we’ve been working here, and continue to build the relationships in that locker room and with the coaching staff here.”
Looking back, the discourse around Darnold’s final two games does appear to be an overreaction. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald addressed that very topic this week.
“It’s a little narrow-minded,” he said [via The Athletic]. “You’re just going to go off a two-game sample? When we were looking into possibly trying to get Sam, to a person, the type of player and teammate he was on a daily basis was really cool. Then you watch the totality of the tape—there’s a lot of great things going on in the red zone, on third down, two-minute, on the move; we know he’s a great thrower on the move. All those things shined through.”
While Darnold will lead the Seahawks’ offense, Vikings undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer will make the first start of his NFL career on Sunday in Seattle while McCarthy remains in concussion protocol.
It will be a matchup of two organizations who made two very different decisions about Darnold in the offseason. And right now, the Seahawks are winning in a landslide.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sam Darnold Addresses Leaving Vikings for Seahawks Ahead of Week 13 Matchup.
