Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
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Sam Darnold #14 of the Minnesota Vikings looks to pass against the Green Bay Packers.
Sam Darnold came to the Seattle Seahawks after the best season of his NFL career, taking the reins after an injury to rookie J.J. McCarthy and leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record.
But despite earning a three-year, $105 million contract with the Seahawks this offseason, Darnold could now face a challenge for his job as rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe has earned some strong reviews at early practices.
Jalen Milroe Adding Competition in Seattle
Though Darnold heads into offseason practices as the presumed starter and is expected to be under center on Week 1, SI.com’s Matt Urben noted that Milroe is offering a strong challenge. The former Alabama quarterback was seen as one of the top
“Darnold will likely start for Seattle this season, however, Milroe has the tools to eventually be a starting quarterback in this league,” Urgen wrote. “The team held its rookie minicamp over the weekend and Milroe impressed with his arm.”
Milroe caught the eye of former NFL quarterback turned analyst Kurt Benkert, who praised his throwing abilities in a post on X.
Kurt Benkert
But I thought he couldn’t throw
The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar wrote that he expects Milroe to spend his rookie year learning behind Darnold on the bench. But he also imagined a plausible scenario where the former Alabama quarterback actually wins the starting job in a competition this summer.
“It’s reasonable to expect Milroe to show flashes in the preseason, then spend most, if not all, of his rookie year on the bench behind Darnold,” Dugar wrote. “Anything more would be overestimating Milroe’s readiness and/or underestimating Darnold’s ability to look competent in Kubiak’s offense. That said, if Milroe and Darnold produce at comparable levels this summer, or if Milroe is only slightly less productive, then it makes sense to roll with the rookie.”
Dugar added that even if the Seahawks do roll with Darnold as their starter, Milroe could find his way onto the field.
“Seattle has acknowledged that even with Darnold playing well as the starter, Milroe is too talented to leave off the field completely. But if Milroe plays like a starter, he’s the type of guy you never take off the field,” he wrote.
Sam Darnold Looking Ahead to 2025
Darnold said he is focusing on staying on top of his game after a turnaround season in Minnesota. The former first-round pick had fallen off after leaving the New York Jets, floating around the league before landing the starting job in Minnesota.
“When people ask you about kind of what goals you’re setting, you have long-term goals, you have short-term goals,” Darnold said in an interview with Forbes. “I really stick with that mindset of just continuing to be the best that I can every single day. I feel like everything will kind of fall into place if I just continue to do that. It’s tough, because in this business, everything is driven on results.”
Darnold added that he’s focusing on getting results, not necessarily statistics.
“Do you get wins? Do you throw for touchdowns? You’re trying not to throw interceptions,” he said. “All these stats that people look at, at the end of the day, you just do everything that you can every day to be the best person, best player you can be, and everything else will kind of just fall into place from there. That’s really how I look at it.”