One former member of the New York Jets had a career resurgence in 2024.
New York selected Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 National Football League Draft. There was a hope that he would be the quarterback to lead the team into the future but things just didn't work out in New York.
Darnold spent the first three seasons of his career with the Jets before he was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2021. Since then, he has spent time with Carolina as well as the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings. Darnold spent time as a backup last year in San Francisco before joining Minnesota ahead of the 2024 season.
Once J.J. McCarthy was lost due to injury before the season, it was clear that Darnold would be the man for the 2024 season at least. He was given an opportunity and absolutely made the most out of it. Darnold tallied 35 touchdown passes to just 12 interceptions and had 4,319 passing yards while leading Minnesota to a 14-3 record.
Darnold now is going to cash in this offseason in free agency whether with the Vikings or not. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler predicted he will land with the Las Vegas Raiders after speaking to a "high-ranking" member of an organization.
"All it takes is one suitor to drive Darnold's market to the point where it's cost-prohibitive for Minnesota to retain him," Fowler said. "And the numbers favor Darnold -- at least five teams selecting in the top 10 of the NFL draft need a quarterback during a year when the supply doesn't meet the demand. Darnold is the clear-cut No. 1 quarterback in free agency.
"Enter Las Vegas, which endured arguably the league's worst quarterback situation in 2024. 'At Pick 6, (the Raiders) are out of range for a quarterback unless they move up, which wouldn't be smart based on the amount of holes they have,' a high-ranking personnel man of an NFL team said. 'They need every pick. They have flexibility within the cap to get it done.'"
If Darnold were to land with the Raiders, he would join arguably the Jets' top most recent rival in Tom Brady. He's a partial owner of the Raiders and there's been some rumors that he will get involved in some capacity with the team. It's murky what his role will be. But, adding Darnold and having Brady around in some capacity sounds like nightmare fuel for Jets fans.
