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Sports Illustrated

Sport

Dan Lyons

Sam Darnold Was All Class When Asked About Rough Jets, Panthers Tenures

Sam Darnold Jets Panthers New-York NFL Carolina Seahawks Vikings Klint Kubiak Mike Vrabel

The road to NFL stardom isn’t always linear.

Some quarterbacks taken at the top of the draft find success right away, and hold onto the QB1 spot with the franchise that drafted them for most of their careers. Others wait their turn, learning all they can before ascending to their place atop the depth chart. And there are some rare cases where quarterbacks bounce around the league for years before finding the right place at the right time to make their mark; Sam Darnold is now the poster boy for that journey.

Darnold was selected with the No. 3 pick of the 2018 NFL draft by the Jets. He led New York on a touchdown drive to open his Week 1 start as a rookie, the first of many scores for a Jets team that blew out the Lions that day, 48–17. That may have been the highwater mark for Darnold’s time with Gang Green; he would go just 13–25 across three seasons in New York before he was traded to the Panthers for a collection of draft picks ahead of the 2021 season. His two years in Carolina weren’t any more fruitful. After spending his sixth NFL season as a backup with the 49ers, Darnold got another chance to lead a franchise with the Vikings in ‘24. All he’s done since is go 28–6 over the last two years with Minnesota and the Seahawks, after the Vikings opted to roll with 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy this season, and now has Seattle on the verge of a championship.

Breer: NFL Notes—Sam Darnold Praises Klint Kubiak

It would be easy for Darnold to hold onto some bitterness about how things went with the Jets and Panthers. Baker Mayfield, who battled for the Carolina job with Darnold in 2022, clearly does with the Browns, who took him No. 1 in the 2018 draft. He’s traveled on a similar path to Darnold, and has also found great success with the Buccaneers.

Instead, Darnold says he remains grateful for all of the ups and downs of his career so far, giving a very classy, mature answer to The Dan Patrick Show about his NFL journey.

"The days in New York, the days in Carolina – those were part of my journey, and they're part of my experience – and I loved every single part of it."

– Sam Darnold on his NFL journey. pic.twitter.com/jXrfsFSCxc
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 30, 2026

“I think just being able to handle it at this point of my career too, I feel like, even mentally, I handle it a little differently internally than I used to. Because I realize it is part of the journey, it is part of who I am,” Darnold said. “... I invested a little more thought into what happened in the past—I threw this pick against this coverage back in 2019, I’m not going to do that again, no, sometimes mistakes happen. You learn from it, and you don’t want to make the same mistakes again, but sometimes throughout your career, especially if its a long career, those things are going to happen.

“But just being able to move on and learn from those experiences, but move on. And the days in New York, the days in Carolina, those were part of my journey, and they’re part of my experience and I loved every single part of it. Yeah there were some lows that sucked, I’m not gonna lie to ya, and that’s part of it though. I learned so much from that and I’m able to move on.

“It’s funny, after every single game we lost, or things that didn’t go well, I was able to wake up the next day and see the sun rise and go into the building and see my teammates and have fun with my coaches. That’s a part of life, and I think being able to realize that at this part of my career, it allows you to take it one day at a time and enjoy every single little moment that you get with your teammates, because as we all say, we’re never with the same team year-in, year-out. You may be with some similar guys if you stick with the same team, but there’s never all 70 that are the same throughout a season, so you try to enjoy it while you can.

Needless to say, Darnold has good reason to enjoy every single little moment of this season with the 2025 Seahawks, and has 60 more minutes of live game action with them against the Patriots in Super Bowl LX next Sunday.

Sam Darnold’s career record, stats

Darnold is far from a perfect quarterback, still throwing more interceptions than offensive corodiantor Klint Kubiak would probably like, but with a 14–3 record and a second consecutive season with over 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns, he’s establishing himself as a reliable starter—and winner—after wading through the desert as an NFL journeyman after his stint with the Jets ran its course.

Season	Team	Record (Starter)	Comp. %	Yards	YPA	TD	Int
2018	Jets	4–9	57.7	2,865	6.9	17	15
2019	Jets	7–6	61.9	3,024	6.9	19	13
2020	Jets	2–10	59.6	2,208	6.1	9	11
2021	Panthers	4–7	59.9	2,527	6.2	9	13
2022	Panthers	4–2	58.6	1,143	8.2	7	3
2023	49ers	0–1	60.9	297	6.5	2	1
2024	Vikings	14–3	66.2	4,319	7.9	35	12
2025	Seahawks	14–3	67.7	4,048	8.5	25	14

After a second consecutive 14-win season, Darnold is now 49–41 in his career as starter.

Darnold’s playoff stats

His performance in the postseason is even more indicative of his growth as a quarterback, even from last season with Minnesota to this season with Seattle. After a disastrous postseason flameout against the Rams a year ago, Darnold has raised his game in the postseason in 2026, including an impressive outing against that same Los Angeles defense that had given him such trouble over the last few seasons.

Season	Team	Record (Starter)	Comp. %	Yards	YPA	TD	Int
2024	Vikings	0–1	62.5	245	6.1	1	1
2025	Seahawks	2–0	69.8	470	8.9	4	0

Super Bowl LX kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 8. Click here for everything you need to know about this year’s broadcast of the Big Game.