Ex-Vikings QB Sam Darnold Gets Bad News Ahead of 1st Year With Seahawks

The Minnesota Vikings got a Pro Bowl performance out of quarterback Sam Darnold last season, but whether he can sustain that level of play moving forward remains a serious question.

The Seattle Seahawks paid Darnold north of $100 million on a three-year contract in free agency to lure him away from Minnesota, which wasn’t going to put up anywhere near that kind of investment with second-year QB and 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick J.J. McCarthy waiting in the wings.

However, the way the Seahawks set up the contract, the team can part ways with Darnold relatively painlessly after just one year. That Seattle spent a third-round pick on former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe at the end of April was the exact opposite of a vote of confidence in Darnold.

The team still has wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was the NFL’s top producer out of the slot last season, and acquired star wideout Cooper Kupp during the offseason. As such, Darnold will have some weapons to help him, but there isn’t a great deal of confidence from analysts around the league that the 27-year-old signal caller will retain his starting job beyond the 2025 campaign.

“Sam Darnold’s contract doesn’t leave Seattle exposed beyond 2025, so it’s safe to assume this is a one-year audition,” Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report wrote on Friday, May 9. “Based on what happened at the end of last season, there’s a good chance he fails.”