The Minnesota Vikings turned Sam Darnold’s career around in just one season, helping him earn a huge payday from the Seattle Seahawks, but the fairy tale could soon end for the former No. 3 overall pick.
Such was the projection from Alex Kay of Bleacher Report on Wednesday, July 30, who predicted Darnold will turn back into a pumpkin during his first campaign in the Pacific Northwest and end up losing his starting job to a third-round rookie.
Kay named Darnold as among the five NFL quarterbacks most likely to lose his QB1 role in 2025, citing the strong-armed and hyper-athletic Jalen Milroe, most recently of the University of Alabama, as the player who will take that job from him.
While Darnold had a relatively strong season with the Minnesota Vikings, the decision could come back to haunt the Seahawks. Prior to his breakout campaign in the Twin Cities, the 28-year-old had spent time with three different clubs over the first six years of his career and failed to distinguish himself with any.
Factor in the coaching switch from Kevin O’Connell — a renowned quarterbacks whisperer — to Mike Macdonald, a defensive-oriented head coach, and there’s a real chance Darnold returns to being a subpar starter in 2025. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be a shock to see third-round rookie Jalen Milroe get some run in the latter portion of the campaign as the team evaluates its future.
Vikings, Sam Darnold Could Both Potentially Capitalize if Seahawks Move on From QB After Just 1 Year
Disaster for Darnold in Seattle wouldn’t be the worst outcome for the Vikings, and potentially not even for the quarterback either.
He inked a three-year, $100.5 million contract to join the Seahawks. Of that total, the team guaranteed $55 million. Even if Darnold plays well, it may not be enough to save his job, as the Seahawks may find themselves incentivized financially to move on to Milroe regardless.
If Darnold has another career-type year — like the Pro-Bowl campaign he put up with Minnesota in 2024 — and the Seahawks make the playoffs, then Seattle probably has to keep him. The same thing will be true if Seattle wins nine or ten games, Darnold plays just OK to above-average and Milroe doesn’t pan out as well and/or as early as the Seahawks hope.
But there are a good number of scenarios, which include a relatively wide variety of statistical outcomes from Darnold, that might see his time in the NFC West end prematurely. But that’s where the Vikings could potentially step in come next spring.
Vikings, Sam Darnold Reunion in 2026 Makes Sense for Team Regardless of How Well J.J. McCarthy Plays This Season
Minnesota believes in J.J. McCarthy, or at least they say they do and have reached a point of no return for at least this season with regards to their bet on him. But he’s still never played a regular-season down.
Beyond that, Sam Howell is struggling early in training camp, just as several team insiders predicted he might. That puts the Vikings in a potentially serious bind, which could see the team turn outside of the organization to find another veteran they can add to the QB room before Week 1.
Obviously, that won’t be Darnold in 2025. Whoever it ends up being, if it ends up happening, is likely to be a veteran on an inexpensive one-year deal.
But next March, if the Seahawks decide Darnold isn’t their guy and release him back onto the market with some significant money still coming his way in 2026, the Vikings would have the inside track and potentially all the motivation in the world to reunite.
Darnold had his best NFL year by a mile under O’Connell. McCarthy and Darnold had a strong relationship. The pass-catching talent in Minnesota is as good, if not better, than perhaps anywhere else in the league.
In this scenario, Darnold will have earned a monster payday and should be inexpensive for 2026, as well as reasonably priced moving forward. If McCarthy plays well in 2025, the move is still logical for the Vikings — assuming Darnold ends up available. If McCarthy plays poorly next season, bringing Darnold back makes even more sense.
