The Seattle Seahawks benefited from the Minnesota Vikings‘ decision to let Sam Darnold walk in free agency. In the offseason, Seattle signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million deal as the Seahawks identified him as their preferred replacement for Geno Smith.
After the Vikings’ 2024 first-round pick, J.J. McCarthy, suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason, Darnold stepped into the starting role. He had a breakout season, passing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Nonetheless, the Vikings decided to hand the reins over to McCarthy, letting Darnold leave. However, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith is calling out Minnesota for this decision, considering the Vikings are ready to win now.
On the September 3 edition of ESPN’s “First Take,“ Smith stated that he wants to watch the debut of McCarthy because of the Vikings going with the unknown over a guy who helped them reach the playoffs last season.
“Sam Darnold was playing for [the Vikings] last year,“ Smith said. “That man threw 35 touchdowns—okay, 35 touchdowns—with 12 interceptions, over 4,300 yards, and you let him walk out the door. Why did you let him walk out the door? Why didn’t you pursue Aaron Rodgers?
“Because of some rookie from Michigan, J.J. McCarthy, who was the first top-10 quarterback drafted that never threw for 3,000 yards in a season, never rushed for more than 500 yards in a season. That’s never happened before with a top-10 quarterback pick. But that’s what we’re talking about with J.J. McCarthy.”
Is Seahawks QB Sam Darnold a One Season Wonder?
Some argue the Vikings let Sam Darnold walk because he may not replicate last season’s production. However, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t one of them.
Darnold spent the 2023 season as a backup to Brock Purdy, and so Shanahan got to see the USC product put in the work behind the scenes. As a result, Shanahan’s comments to ESPN’s Brady Henderson in a September 2 article suggest he wasn’t surprised by Darnold’s production when put in a position to succeed.
“He got the keys to the team, and to be in that situation also when he had a good, upcoming team that had a lot of talent, that had a good coaching staff and it was kind of the perfect time for him and he was so ready for it,” Shanahan said. “That’s why I thought he had one of the better years in the league last year.”
Sam Darnold Found His Footing in San Francisco
The Seahawks and 49ers are NFC West rivals, but Seattle might have to thank San Francisco if the Darnold signing works out for them. In the Bay Area, Darnold had the opportunity to sit back and learn as a backup, an opportunity he didn’t get in New York.
“I was able to gather so much information about just what it took to play quarterback in that system,” Darnold said. “… Throughout the whole experience, there’s so many things I learned, but I think that was the biggest takeaway for me was how much I was studying off the field to be able to prepare myself to go in and play if I needed to on Sundays.”
As fate will have it, the Seahawks and Darnold will face the 49ers in Week 1. Both teams are looking to get off on the right foot with aspirations of making the playoffs this season.
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