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Remember when the Minnesota Vikings opted not to pay Sam Darnold during the offseason, preferring to let the chips fall with J.J. McCarthy? Darnold totally understands. Source? Him.
Darnold has no issue with Minnesota’s quarterback decision, even after his career surge with Seattle.
He spoke this week about the Vikings’ 2025 roster construction, acknowledging even he understood “why they did what they did.”
Darnold Gives Minnesota’s QB Plan Some Grace
No hard feelings.
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold reacts during the Super Bowl LX parade on Feb. 11, 2026, in Seattle, Washington. Darnold completed a career-revival season with the Seahawks in 2025 and helped guide the franchise to a championship appearance after departing the Minnesota Vikings during the previous offseason. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images
Darnold: I Get It
Darnold hopped on the San Clemente Podcast this week, unafraid to share his feelings on the Vikings’ offseason dealings 14 months ago.
“I totally understand the move to go with a younger quarterback on a rookie deal, and signing these veteran players that you can maybe pay a little bit more while he’s on his rookie deal, especially if you believe in him. The business side of it, I totally understand it,” he told Clemente.
“I think JJ is a good player. I think he’s gonna be a really good player in this league. I truly believe that. For them to see that and be like, … the business part of it, it was like okay, like, I totally understand it.”
The Rest Is Now History
Of course, Darnold can stay stuff like that because — checks notes — his team won a Super Bowl, and the Vikings did not. In fact, Minnesota became the butt of jokes between the NFC Championship and Super Bowl — how on earth did decision-makers from the franchise let Darnold leave for nothing? That became a common query regarding the Vikings.
Five days after Darnold punched his ticket to the Super Bowl, the Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the architect of the plan to let Darnold leave while keeping McCarthy as the sole QB1 solution in 2025. It was not surprising that Minnesota parted ways with Adofo-Mensah, but the time was odd. Why wait until 3.5 weeks after the regular season to fire him? Probably because the scrutiny of Darnold’s success became too loud and obvious to ignore.
Currently, Minnesota is conducting a wide search to replace Adofo-Mensah, reportedly narrowing its GM candidate field to five earlier this week. Fans will hope the next one doesn’t make preposterous decisions, such as offloading Darnold, even if the idea felt responsible at the time. Never forget: Darnold played like an idiot during his last two games with the Vikings.
The McCarthy Endorsement
It’s also worth noting that Darnold believes in McCarthy. He’d actually have every reason to dislike the guy, booted from the Twin Cities because Minnesota was too loyal to the 2024 1st-Round draft pick.
McCarthy experienced ups and downs last season, his first as a starter, battling multiple and incessant injuries, including a high ankle sprain, concussion, and broken hand. He showed flashes of extreme promise, especially late in games when the pressure couldn’t be higher, but also displayed immature mechanics at ordinary times, like flailing his leg across his body to add oomph to throws. Few quarterbacks do that, and few last long in the NFL using such unorthodox motions.
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Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Sam Darnold warm up during training camp practice on Aug. 2, 2024, in Eagan, Minnesota. The Vikings entered the 2024 season balancing Darnold’s veteran presence with McCarthy’s long-term development after selecting the Michigan quarterback in the first round of the NFL Draft. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Still, McCarthy will be involved in the Vikings’ upcoming training camp quarterback battle. Minnesota signed Kyler Murray from free agency in March, and though most expect him to win the QB1 job title, there’s a small chance that McCarthy scores the upset.
Darnold seems to believe that’s possible.
Darnold’s 2025 Performance
The ex-Vikings signal-caller checked in as the NFL’s ninth-best quarterback last year per EPA+CPOE. Darnold was also propped up by a fantastic start to the 2025 campaign, and when he slowed down — floundered, even — in November, December, and January, nobody noticed because the Seahawks’ defense had morphed into a juggernaut.
Here’s an example of the numbers:
Sam Darnold,
NFL Ranking,
Per EPA+CPOE in 2025:
Week 1-10: 1st
Week 11-18: 22nd
Seattle’s defense ranked as the top dog in the NFL per EPA/Play. Darnold didn’t struggle in the playoffs, but compared to past postseason quarterback performances, he largely did enough “not to screw up,” propelling the Seahawks to the Lombardi Trophy.
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Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold stands before the Super Bowl LX trophy presentation on Feb. 11, 2026, at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington. Darnold reached the championship stage after revitalizing his career in Seattle, capping one of the NFL’s most surprising quarterback turnarounds during the 2025 campaign. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Darnold will turn 29 next month. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah said this week about his next contract, “I think Darnold can get into that $50 million range. And I think that could still — at the time that he does it a year from now — could be cutting the team a discount with where the numbers are going.”
“It just feels like every year when you get these quarterback numbers, and everybody freaks out, you just have to remind everybody that this league is not making any less money. Like, this cap is going to continue to go up, and these quarterback numbers are going to continue to go up. We’re going to have $100 million quarterback in AAV before it’s all said and done.”
The Vikings will play the Seahawks again in 2027 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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