Report: Sam Darnold, Seahawks Agree to $110.5M Contract After Vikings Exit, Geno Trade
It looks like the Seattle Seahawks have found their replacement for Geno Smith.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that Darnold agreed to a three-year deal with the Seahawks. ESPN's Adam Schefter noted the contract is for $110.5 million contract with $55 million guaranteed.
The 27-year-old will likely take over the starting role after the Seahawks traded Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Darnold is coming off his best season ever. He threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions en route to earning his first Pro Bowl nod.
Last offseason, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that Darnold would be Minnesota's Week 1 starter or finish out the year in the role after the Vikings used the 10th overall pick on Michigan's J.J. McCarthy.
As the season unfolded and with McCarthy sidelined, however, the conversation shifted to how much it might take for the Vikings to keep Darnold amid his renaissance. Maybe he could serve as a bridge to McCarthy in 2025 or perhaps even be a long-term solution.
Then came Minnesota's final two games.
The Vikings were soundly beaten 31-9 by the Detroit Lions in Week 18, when they could've clinched a division title and the NFC's top seed. Then they lost 27-9 to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card Round.
On both occasions, Darnold's performance left a lot to be desired. He went 18-of-41 for 166 yards against the Lions and then was sacked nine times against the Rams, which tied an NFL playoff record.
With those two games, people started to wonder whether Darnold's regular season was more of a mirage or if his finish was merely an unflattering outlier that didn't reflect any larger concerns.
In January, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler predicted Darnold to wind up on the Las Vegas Raiders and reported that "most execs polled believe Darnold belongs in the Geno Smith/Baker Mayfield class of contracts, somewhere in the range of three years and $100 million."
Another thing Smith and Mayfield have done is show the unexpectedly strong seasons they enjoyed, which they parlayed into those big contracts, weren't an aberration. They remained solid starters for the Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively.
That's worth nothing within the context of looking toward the future with Darnold. Maybe there isn't another breakthrough to come, but he could settle in as a mid-tier quarterback, which is pretty much where his new contract puts him.
This still amounts to a gamble for the Seahawks because he could regress back to his New York Jets and Carolina Panthers days, but it's not a massive overpay in a market as inflated as the one for quarterbacks.
And for the Vikings, it's not hard to see why they wanted to go in a new direction. They clearly believed in McCarthy's potential, and he has done nothing to prove their opinion wrong yet.
At a certain point, the franchise needs to see what it has with the 22-year-old. Maybe he pans out. Maybe it takes little time to discover he's simply not it.
By letting Darnold walk, the Vikings are showing they intend to find out.
Schefter: Vikings Signed Daniel Jones In Case Sam Darnold Leaves amid Raiders Rumors
The Minnesota Vikings' decision to sign Daniel Jones following his departure from the New York Giants may have been part of a contingency plan for the potential free agency loss of Sam Darnold.
ESPN's Adam Schefter said Monday on the Pat McAfee Show that he believes the Las Vegas Raiders plan to pursue Darnold this offseason.
"I think the Raiders are going to make a play for Sam Darnold. I think Sam Darnold's a candidate to be the Raiders' quarterback," Schefter said. "We'll see whether Minnesota lets him go or not, but let's see if that works out with Sam Darnold winding up in Vegas. And so, if he goes there, then the Vikings have to bring in another quarterback. J.J.'s obviously going to be there; J.J.'s coming along.
"And I think that was part of the reason they brought in Daniel Jones because they were kind of getting him up to speed in their system in their organization in the event that they do lose Sam Darnold."
The Vikings signed Jones to their practice squad in November and elevated him to the active roster in January. The former Giants starter has not seen game action since he was waived by New York.
This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.
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Schefter: Raiders 'Likely to Have Some Interest' in Sam Darnold Contract in NFL FA
The Las Vegas Raiders are "likely to have some interest" in free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Schefter said the Minnesota Vikings haven't ruled out a reunion with the 2024 Pro Bowler, with the franchise tag being a straightforward path to have him under contract for 2025.
In January, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler cited one NFL personnel executive who predicted Las Vegas to sign Darnold due to a few factors.
The Raiders clearly need a quarterback after cycling through Gardner Minshew II, Aidan O'Connell and Desmond Ridder as the starter this season. Going 4-13 only earned them the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, though, so they'll need to trade up in order to get Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders.
The personnel exec suggested the Raiders "need every pick" because they're far more than one quarterback away from being a contender.
With a projected $92.5 million in available salary cap space, Las Vegas will have more than enough room to sign a top free agent at QB and strengthen in other areas.
Schefer and Fowler's reports underline how Darnold is likely to get paid one way or the other regardless of his disappointing finish to the 2024 campaign. He went 18-of-41 for 166 yards in a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions and was then sacked nine times in Minnesota's NFC Wild Card Round defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.
Thanks to those two games alone, the idea of paying the 27-year-old nine figures looks a little less enticing.
But somebody is going to take the plunge, whether it's the Vikings giving him more than $40 million on the franchise tag or a suitor committing to a multiyear extension.
And if Darnold prefers a return to Minnesota, the Raiders' interest will be very useful in terms of building leverage at the negotiating table.
Report: J.J. McCarthy 'Should Be Ready to Roll by OTAs' After Surgery on Knee Injury
The Minnesota Vikings are facing a major decision at the quarterback position, but they can take solace knowing J.J. McCarthy's health is reportedly one less thing to worry about this offseason.
The No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft was expected to be the team's franchise quarterback, but a preseason knee injury cost him his rookie campaign and forced him to undergo a repair for his torn meniscus in August and another surgery in November.
Yet NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that the Michigan product "is expected to begin football drills in the next few weeks and should be ready to roll by OTAs in May."
Given that news, all eyes will turn to the front office's decision with Sam Darnold.
Darnold was unexpectedly brilliant for the Vikings in place of McCarthy during the 2024 season and made his first career Pro Bowl while completing 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
However, he is scheduled for free agency this offseason.
On the one hand, signing a 27-year-old quarterback coming off that type of season to a multiyear contract would make sense. On the other hand, the 2024 campaign is an anomaly in his career to this point, as Darnold was 21-35 as a starter for the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers prior to joining the Vikings.
He also struggled mightily in Minnesota's loss to the Detroit Lions in the final regular-season game and Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs, which cut short much of the momentum he was building heading into an important offseason.
The front office could use the franchise tag on him if it doesn't want to commit the resources necessary for a long-term deal, especially with McCarthy waiting in the wings. Or it could complete a tag-and-trade and fully hand the reins over to the the 22-year-old.
After all, the Vikings drafted McCarthy when they did for a reason, and they will surely want to see what he is capable of at the NFL level sooner rather than later.
And he will have the chance to show them with a fully healthy knee heading into the 2025 campaign.