Sam Darnold had a breakout season in 2024, finishing with career highs in almost every statistic you can find. Why the Vikings and Darnold parted ways is beyond me. I understand that Minnesota has J.J. McCarthy waiting in the wings, but if Darnold is going to put up numbers like he did last season, who cares? It’s too late now, however, as the former Jets and Vikings QB signed on the dotted line to head to the Seattle Seahawks on a three-year, $110.5 million deal.
Darnold set the bar pretty high in 2024, finishing as QB8 on DraftKings with 333 FPTS. He threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 picks while leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record. It doesn’t get much better than that for an NFL quarterback, so it’s a curious decision why both parties decided to part ways. Yes, Darnold was a free agent, but franchise signal callers are hard to find, and Kevin O’Connell had that with Darnold in 2024.
The good news for Sam is that he’s heading to a decent situation in Seattle. The Seahawks went 10-7 last season, missing out on a playoff spot in Week 18. The team did trade away DK Metcalf, but added Cooper Kupp as a replacement in the receiver room. Jaxon Smith-Njigba will remain as the primary receiving threat, and he will hope to get a good connection going with his new QB. JSN and Kupp make for a solid one-two punch if the latter can stay healthy.
There’s a good chance that Darnold puts up some solid numbers next season, but I would be more comfortable saying that if he were with the same team and same offensive system. There are too many moving parts in Seattle for me to say that his fantasy football stock has increased from this move to the Northwest. While I don’t expect a significant drop-off, it will be hard for him to replicate what he did in 2024.
