The New York Jets selected Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Darnold had an underwhelming three years with the Jets, but put together a Pro Bowl campaign in a breakout season for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024.
Darnold had a 13-25 record with the Jets, throwing for 8,097 yards and 45 touchdowns to 39 interceptions.
After bouncing around between the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers, Darnold threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns to 12 interceptions with the Vikings, leading them to a 14-3 record.
Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski compiled a list of each NFL team's most dangerous addition in free agency, and Darnold was the pick for the Seattle Seahawks, who inked Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract. However, Sobleski still left Darnold's future production as a question still in the air.
"Which version of quarterback Sam Darnold with the Seattle Seahawks get? Will he revert back to the first-round bust who bounced between three teams in his six season, or will he continue to play like a Pro Bowl quarterback, as he did with the Minnesota Vikings last season?" Wrote Sobleski.
Sobleski has concerns about the change of scenery for Darnold, who needed four different NFL stops to find success.
"Truth is, Darnold is entering a whole new situation with a new offensive coordinator, albeit one with a similar system to the one he just left, and an all-new surrounding cast," Sobleski wrote. "To be fair, he did the same a year ago and flourished. However, the Seahawks aren't set up for success like the Vikings were. How successful Seattle is now falls squarely on the shoulders of the quarterback."
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is awfully excited about Darnold, and doesn't seem to share the same concerns as Sobleski.
"I'm most excited about the person, the leader, the teammate, that guy that we get to work with every day," Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said after the signing. "I think he's in a great spot from our conversations. I think he's energized, he's driven and just like the rest of us in the building, so he's going to fit right in."