Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold entered last offseason in a unique position.<\/p>\n
In 2024, he led the Vikings to a 14\u20133 record and completely transformed the narrative of his career from a first-round bust to a trustworthy veteran quarterback with incredible arm talent. But the way his season ended did cast doubt about how real his progress had been all year.<\/p>\n
In the regular-season finale\u2014a Week 18 matchup to decide the NFC\u2019s No. 1 seed\u2014Darnold struggled, missing plenty of open receivers and throwing for just 166 yards. The following week, in the Vikings\u2019 season-ending 27\u20139 loss to the Rams in the wild-card round, Darnold was sacked nine times for an NFL playoff record of 82 yards.<\/p>\n
The Vikings had a few options last offseason at quarterback: bring back Darnold, sign Daniel Jones, who ended the season in their locker room after being cut by the Giants, sign Aaron Rodgers<\/a> or hand the keys to the offense to J.J. McCarthy, the No. 10 pick of the 2024 draft.<\/p>\n RELATED: Why It\u2019s Way Too Early to Draw Any Definitive Conclusions on Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy<\/a><\/p>\n In the end, the Vikings chose McCarthy, a decision that, well, doesn\u2019t look like the right one in the short term. McCarthy\u2019s career is off to a historically bad start<\/a> while Darnold, who signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract<\/a> with the Seahawks in March, ranks fourth in passer rating (106.2) and has led Seattle to an 8\u20133 record.<\/p>\n On Friday, two days before Darnold and the Seahawks battle the Vikings at Lumen Field, the quarterback was asked if returning to Minnesota was a feasible option for him in the offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for me, it was just understanding what was being talked about … behind closed doors with people over there and my people,\u201d Darnold said [via ESPN<\/a>\u2019s Brady Henderson]. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I made the decision to come [to Seattle] and I\u2019m very, very happy about that decision and excited to continue to work the way that we\u2019ve been working here, and continue to build the relationships in that locker room and with the coaching staff here.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back, the discourse around Darnold\u2019s final two games does appear to be an overreaction. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald addressed that very topic this week.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little narrow-minded,\u201d he said [via The Athletic<\/a>]. \u201cYou\u2019re just going to go off a two-game sample? When we were looking into possibly trying to get Sam, to a person, the type of player and teammate he was on a daily basis was really cool. Then you watch the totality of the tape\u2014there\u2019s a lot of great things going on in the red zone, on third down, two-minute, on the move; we know he\u2019s a great thrower on the move. All those things shined through.\u201d<\/p>\n