It's been a great year for Sam Darnold, as he's been able to lead the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl after signing with them in the offseason. Before he was with the Seahawks, Darnold was with the Minnesota Vikings, and he helped them get to the playoffs last season, but lost in the Wild Card Round to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Vikings let Darnold walk after the season, and looking at the situation now, they may have made a big mistake. The Vikings were not good this season, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired recently for not producing the results that the organization wanted.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler took a deeper dive into why the Vikings ended up losing Darnold last offseason, and it seems like it came down to years and money.
“Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's firing in Minnesota leaves a heavy fallout for the Vikings to sort through,” Fowler wrote. “He was mildly surprised but not shocked by the firing, knowing his position demanded results. He knew the public pressure was on after the QB dominoes were not friendly to Minnesota, with former Viking Sam Darnold headed to the Super Bowl. This process began with the decision to passively pursue Darnold.
“A source described the Vikings' efforts to re-sign Darnold as ‘basically a one-year commitment,' whereas Seattle offered more Year 2 money. The Vikings tried harder to sign Daniel Jones, but Jones had $14 million from Indianapolis and a clearer path to a starting job waiting for him.”
With Darnold going to the Seahawks and their other options not panning out, the Vikings had to settle with JJ McCarthy, which was a big commitment for a player that they hadn't seen much of since they drafted him. In the end, McCarthy did not play much because of injury, and that led to Carson Wentz playing a lot of the season until he was injured as well.
