Three years after they drafted him No. 3 overall, the Jets moved on from Sam Darnold.
Darnold was just 13-25 as a starter and had thrown 45 touchdown passes against 39 interceptions when the Jets decided to draft Zach Wilson as his replacement in 2021.
The Jets were the first team to pass on a long-term future with Darnold, but they weren’t the only ones.
Short stints in Carolina, San Francisco and Minnesota also preceded Darnold signing a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks last offseason.
Even then, not many envisioned Darnold leading Seattle to a Super Bowl berth, as he did with a prolific performance in Sunday night’s 31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game.
“He shut a lot of people up tonight,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said.
Despite a nagging oblique injury that limited his practice reps, Darnold completed 25-of-36 passes (69.4%) for 346 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover in Sunday’s win.
Seattle needed all of it on a night its top-ranked defense struggled to contain Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, the presumptive NFL MVP favorite, who also threw three touchdown passes.
Darnold’s third-quarter touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp — formerly Stafford’s favorite target and the MVP of the Rams’ Super LVI victory — proved to be the dagger.
“For him to overcome what he’s had to overcome, I’m rolling with Sam all day,” said star Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who erupted for 10 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown. “We believe in him. The building believes in him. The city believes in him. It’s awesome to run out onto the field with him.”
A win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 would serve as an epic conclusion to Darnold’s comeback story.
After all, the lowlight of Darnold’s Jets tenure was a 33-0 loss to the Patriots on “Monday Night Football” in 2019, during which the microphone-wearing quarterback admitted to “seeing ghosts” amid a four-interception performance.
“There was a lot that I didn’t know back then, so I’m just going to continue to learn and grow in this great game,” Darnold, 28, said Sunday night, reflecting on that infamous soundbite.
“We’re always looking to get better. I’m always looking to get better. That’s the great part about this game is you win an NFC championship and you win games throughout the season, but there’s always ways that you can look to get better.”
After being traded by the Jets, Darnold went 8-9 over two years in Carolina from 2021-22 before the Panthers traded up to select Bryce Young with the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft.
Darnold spent the 2023 season as Brock Purdy’s backup in San Francisco, learning in Kyle Shanahan’s quarterback-friendly system. That 49ers team advanced to the Super Bowl, where it lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, but Darnold did not take a snap during the playoff run.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Darnold signed a one-year, $10 million contract with Minnesota. Less than two months later, the Vikings used a first-round pick on J.J. McCarthy.
But McCarthy suffered a preseason knee injury, which cost him his rookie year. That opened the Vikings’ starting job for Darnold, who flourished under head coach Kevin O’Connell during a breakout 2024 campaign.
Darnold threw a career-high 35 touchdown passes and led Minnesota to a 14-3 record, but he struggled in the Vikings’ final two games. That included a 27-9 loss to the Rams in his playoff debut, during which Darnold committed two turnovers and took nine sacks.
The Vikings opted to move forward with McCarthy, while Darnold signed with Seattle in March.
Darnold delivered another strong season, leading the Seahawks to a 14-3 record and the NFC’s top seed. Still, his worst game of the year — a four-interception outing in a Week 10 loss to the Rams — again prompted chatter about his ability to perform in the biggest games.
But Darnold has answered those questions emphatically during this playoff run, completing 69.8% of his passes for 470 yards and four touchdowns without an interception through two games.
Darnold is set to be the first quarterback from the 2018 draft class to start in a Super Bowl — something Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield have not done.
“You don’t want me writing the stories, because I would not write the narratives that are out there,” Macdonald said. “I’d be really boring. I’d be like, ‘This guy’s the man, and his teammates love him, and he’s competitive as crap and he’s tough and he’s really talented, and he’s a winner.’ That would be the story.”