It’s Official! Sam Darnold Has Left The Minnesota Vikings

Quarterback Sam Darnold is coming off a breakout season with the Minnesota Vikings in which he completed 66.2% of his passes for a career-high 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with a 102.5 passer rating.

His performance was a big reason the Minnesota Vikings surprised the NFL in 2024 by finishing with a 14-3 record and a trip to the playoffs.

Of course, the season ended with a regular season loss in Detroit followed by a lopsided 27-9 loss against the Rams in playoffs in which Darnold was sacked 9 times and looked far different from the player that led the team all season.

At the end of the season, there was much speculation about whether the Vikings would sign Darnold again to compete with J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings 2024 first-round pick who is expected to be the Vikings quarterback of the future, but is coming off a significant knee injury.

Today that speculation has officially ended as Sam Darnold used his terrific 2024 regular season to leave Minnesota and sign a big contract with a new team, a team the Vikings will play next season.

Sam Darnold Leaves The Minnesota Vikings

Multiple sources are reporting that Darnold, a former No. 3 overall pick, has agreed to sign with the Seattle Seahawks on a three-year, $100.5 million contract with $55 million guaranteed.

On March 7, the Seahawks traded starting quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, leading many to predict that their next move would be to sign Sam Darnold and now the Darnold era will begin in Seattle.

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While the NFL has yet to release its 2025 schedule, the opponents for every team are set and the Vikings will once again be traveling to Seattle and this time it will be to face their former quarterback.

As for the Vikings, it appears the J.J. McCarthy era is set to begin, although they will likely want a veteran quarterback on the roster to help with the transition.

Now that Darnold isn't an option, there are rumors of the team re-signing former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who was on the Vikings roster at the end of the 2024 season.  Of course, there's also some chatter out there about Arron Rodgers, which would certainly cause a stir.

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