Justin Jefferson Comments On Not Having Sam Darnold This Season: ‘We Would Have Done Better!’

While Sam Darnold is preparing for the Super Bowl, his former teammate Justin Jefferson can only help but wonder what could’ve been. 

“But having a quarterback that already had a season under his belt with us,” Jefferson said, “knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys, I definitely feel like we would have done better.”

Darnold was signed by the Minnesota Vikings during the 2024 offseason. Originally, he was projected to be J.J. McCarthy’s backup. However, after McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury, Darnold was named the starter.

Darnold threw 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on the way to 14 wins. He made his first career Pro Bowl for his performance. The Vikings lost in the wild-card game to the Los Angeles Rams, where Darnold had one touchdown and one interception. 

The Vikings decided to let Darnold leave in the offseason. Darnold signed a three-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks while the Vikings looked to start McCarthy in 2025. McCarthy threw 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 10 games. Backup Carson Wentz didn’t do much better with six touchdowns and five interceptions in five games. 

Darnold won 14 games with the Seahawks, while the Vikings won just nine. 

The Vikings’ future at the QB position is currently in doubt. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired in late January. Rob Brzezinski will be the acting GM until after the NFL draft.

Brzezinski will need to decide whether he wants to be aggressive or passive during the offseason. The choice he makes will directly affect who wants the GM job. At the QB position, he’ll need to decide if he wants to draft a young QB, sign a veteran, starting-quality QB, or just keep things the same and trust McCarthy’s development.