Sam Darnold likely cost himself some significant money over his final two games of the 2024 campaign, but enters the free agent market as the premier quarterback available.
The reality is, with a lackluster NFL Draft class at the position and largely middling starter and veteran backup caliber quarterbacks about to be available in free agency, Darnold is still going to cash in.
That’s because Darnold made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career this past season, while passing for a career-high 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.
Setting NFL Free Agency Expectations for Sam Darnold
Still, there are reasons that teams might be skeptical of Darnold, who shrunk in the moment with two of his poorest games of the season coming in a Week 18 clash against the Detroit Lions with the NFC North crown at stake and a playoff loss the following week to the Los Angeles Rams.
“Darnold’s 2024 season may have been the product of great coaching and a supporting cast,” Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox writes, of the biggest concerns teams have about Darnold. “Headlined by Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and Aaron Jones. Darnold may need to land with a playoff-ready squad to replicate that success.
“The other concern is that, even with a great team around him, Darnold struggled to handle pressure in his last two games. In losses in the regular-season finale and the Wild-Card Round, he was sacked 11 times, threw just one touchdown pass, and saw Minnesota outscored 81-43.”
Wherever Darnold lands, it might not be on the lucrative multi-year extension that he likely had waiting for him had he finished the season far stronger than he did. The Vikings may have even re-signed him.
However, Darnold may need at least one more season outside of the friendly confines of Kevin O’Connell’s system and without Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to throw to, in order to prove that his stellar 2024 season is anything more than a one-year wonder.
For More Football News:
Follow Matt Lombardo on Threads at @MattLombardoNFL. To read more of our articles and in-depth NFL coverage, click here.
