RENTON, Wash. — Sam Darnold was almost 14 minutes into his introductory news conference at Seattle Seahawks headquarters Thursday when he got the question he knew was coming.
What did he learn from the disappointing end to his resurgent season with the Minnesota Vikings?
“I was waiting for someone to bring that up,” Darnold said while flanked on stage by coach Mike Macdonald and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. “I appreciate that.
“No, it’s fair, man. You get all the way to that point, you have the season that we had offensively as a team, and then you run into, at the end of the day only one team can win the Super Bowl. And unfortunately, we weren’t that team.”
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Darnold and the Vikings appeared poised for a deep playoff run until the wheels of his Pro Bowl season started to come loose in Week 18, when he completed only 18 of 41 attempts in a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions. A week later, he was sacked nine times in a 27-9 defeat by the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round.
Darnold had thrown 35 touchdown passes over the first 16 games but threw only one over the final two.
“I think being able to get the ball out a little bit quicker on some of the dropback stuff that we had those last couple games and understanding where the outlets are and even if a guy is covered, even if my backs covered on a checkdown, just throwing it at his feet,” he said. “I feel like I was taking some unnecessary sacks last year, especially those last few games. … I’ll definitely be thinking about that, keeping two hands on the ball in the pocket at all times. Just doing all the little fundamental things, but that’s a big one, is being able to just get the ball out on time.”
Darnold will look to apply that lesson in Seattle under Kubiak. He said his relationship with Seattle’s newly hired coordinator and familiarity with his scheme was “definitely” a factor in his decision to join the Seahawks on a three-year deal that includes $55 million guaranteed. Darnold was Brock Purdy’s backup in 2023 when Kubiak was the 49ers’ passing game coordinator. He had bounced from the New York Jets, who drafted him No. 3 in 2018, to the Carolina Panthers and then to San Francisco.
“Sam’s extremely talented,” Kubiak said. “Obviously, a great thrower of the football. His mobility sticks out, his toughness, his maturity. The thing about Sam that really sticks out is he’s an A-plus teammate. He elevates those around him and the guys he plays with respect him because when your best players are your hardest workers, that’s what you really strive for. That’s what you want as a coach, and Sam has that in spades.”
The Vikings had interest in bringing back Darnold but did not use the franchise tag, with last year’s 10th pick, J.J. McCarthy, coming back from a serious knee injury that sidelined him for the entirety of his rookie season. Darnold was asked where his head was at after the season with regard to a potential return to Minnesota versus a desire to hit free agency.
“We were kind of looking at all possibilities, to be honest,” he said. “Just very happy that all roads kind of led to Seattle.”
Darnold began to see the Seahawks as an option when news broke Friday that the Seahawks had traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders for a third-round pick. Speaking with reporters after Darnold’s news conference, general manager John Schneider said the Seahawks offered Smith an extension, and that they turned their focus to a trade when it became apparent that they wouldn’t be able to get a deal done.
“It was an interesting series of events, for sure,” Macdonald said. “But when it became apparent that we had to pivot away from Geno, I was definitely hoping that it was going to land with Sam. There was some time there. Everyone involved in the process was awesome. … There were some great quarterbacks out there that we looked into, but it was really apparent that Sam was our guy.”
Macdonald got an up close look at Darnold late last season at Lumen Field, when the last of his three touchdown passes — a 39-yard strike to Justin Jefferson with four minutes left — gave the Vikings a 27-24 win over Seattle. It was one of five game-winning drives he led in 2024.
In a lighthearted moment, Darnold used a question about that performance to subtly rub it in his new coach’s face.
“I’m excited to talk about this,” he joked. “How long have we got?”
Darnold noted his other win at the Seahawks’ home stadium, a 30-24 victory with the Panthers in 2022. That was part of his 4-2 record as their starter after taking over for the final six games. The 49ers also beat the Seahawks in Seattle the following year, while Darnold was backing up Purdy.
Now he’s back in the NFC West, which means annual meetings with the team that sacked him nine times, ended his bounce-back season with the Vikings and sent him to Seattle with some important lessons learned.
“We’re going to see L.A. twice a year, obviously, playing in this division,” Darnold said. “Really looking forward to that.”
