The Vikings could have had Sam Darnold.
But because they decided instead to have J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota now has...Max Brosmer?
In Seattle and around the NFL, a focus this week has been on Darnold playing Sunday for the Seahawks against the fallen Vikings he led to a 14-3 season and the playoffs in 2024.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA trap game? Not for Darnold.
“I’m excited for this one,” he said Friday.
In Minnesota, the focus is on a quarterback situation gone way wrong since the Vikings let Darnold leave last offseason.
He is fourth in the league in passer rating (106.2) and completion rate (69.5%). And he’s not dinking and dunking with checkdowns. Despite quarterbacking the offense that runs over passes more than any other team, Darnold leads the league with 9.3 yards per pass attempt and 13.5 yards per completion. He is sixth in passing yards (2,785). He’s spent much of the season with the most completions of 20 or more yards.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDarnold is why Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL by a mile with 1,313 yards receiving. With six games left in the regular season Smith-Njigba is on pace to break Calvin Johnson’s league record of 1,964 yards in 2012 and become the first man with 2,000 yards receiving in a season.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) runs out before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lumen Field, on Oct. 5 in Seattle. Brian Hayes/[email protected]The elite wide receiver in Minnesota who benefitted most from Darnold being a Viking last season has absolutely noticed what Darnold is doing as one the NFL’s best passers leading the Seahawks (8-3) squarely into contention for a playoff berth and NFC West division title.
“He’s definitely balling,” two-time All-Pro Justin Jefferson told reporters in Minnesota this week. “It’s hard to miss it when the number-one receiver is at the top in the NFL. He’s been killing it.”
Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates his touchdown pass to wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) against the Atlanta Falcons during the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Matt Krohn/USA TODAY NETWORKJefferson and the Vikings have reason to look at Darnold and wonder.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDarnold was an NFL journeyman, a former, failed third-overall draft pick by the Jets who never stuck as the starter in New York or Carolina from 2018-22. He was on a string of one-year contracts when he followed his one with San Francisco with another for Minnesota entering the 2024 season. It was for $10 million to rejoin his former teammate Josh McCown, the Vikings’ new quarterbacks coach, and Minnesota’s QB-whisperer head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Darnold signed to back up J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota’s prized 10th pick in last year’s draft. In his first NFL training camp, the rookie McCarthy tore his meniscus in a season-ending knee injury.
Darnold became the accidental Vikings starter for 2024 — and had a career year. He threw for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and led the Vikings to 14 wins in their first 16 games. At season’s end, McCarthy was recovered and healthy. Darnold was a suddenly the league’s most coveted free-agent quarterback. Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah reportedly offered Darnold another one-year contract to back up McCarthy in 2025.
Darnold knew he would get the richest, multi-year deal for any quarterback in the free-agent class last spring. He declined Minnesota’s token offer — and took Seattle’s. It’s for three years and up to $100.5 million, with $55 million guaranteed.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat looks like a Seahawks steal so far.
The News Tribune asked Darnold Friday if the Vikings ever presented him with a viable option to stay with Minnesota for the 2025 season, or beyond.
“For me, it was just understanding what was being talked about in terms of behind closed doors with the people over there and my people,” Darnold said.
“At the end of the day, I made the decision to come here.. And I’m very happy about that decision. (I’m) excited to continue to work the way that we’ve been working here and continue to build the relationships in that locker room and with the coaching staff here.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSome of his Seattle relationships were pre-existing.
Coach Mike Macdonald had just hired Klint Kubiak as his new offensive coordinator. Kubiak was the passing-game coordinator in San Francisco in the 2023 season when Darnold was the 49ers backup to Brock Purdy.
What did Kubiak see in Darnold that made him be OK with his Seahawks trading Geno Smith and wanting Darnold to be his QB in Seattle?
“What sticks out is his approach was just advanced,” Kubiak said this week. “Obviously, really well coached there. You could tell he was very on the details. Extremely mature. He knew he was taking over a franchise, and he acted accordingly.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“The last time I was with Sam (in San Francisco), obviously he was in a different situation, but he knew that he was ready to take the opportunity and do everything he could to be successful.” Darnold says now he’s “very grateful” for his year in Minnesota. He still refers to O’Connell as “K.O.” and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores as “Flo.”
“All the people that I created relationships with, all the people in that locker room, all the coaches there, the people in that building...,” Darnold said Friday.
“But I am very excited to be here and to continue doing what we’re doing this year.”
Darnold down-played it Friday. But he still thinks of his time in Minnesota, and fondly. Even during the most recent Seahawks practice.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDuring a drill Friday in Renton, Darnold walked up to Cam Akers. The Seahawks signed the former Vikings running back on Wednesday. Darnold and Akers relived the rollout pass the QB flicked low and Akers made a lunging, tumbling catch on the key third down with 1:49 remaining last Dec. 29 to clinch the Vikings’ 27-25 win over the Packers in Minneapolis.
“We were actually just talking on the field today about that clutch play that he made last year against Green Bay,” Darnold said. “That little roll pass that we made, and I underthrew it and he made an unbelievable catch coming back to the ball. And then we could kneel it out in a victory formation.
“I had a great time with Cam when he was in Minnesota with us, and I’m happy to have him here now.”
Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Vikings without Darnold and going with McCarthy are 4-7, with three straight losses and five defeats in the last six games. They’ve gone to the bottom of the NFC North. At quarterback in Minnesota since Darnold left...well, that’s the key to this game Sunday at Lumen Field.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) warms up before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 in Seattle. Brian Hayes/[email protected]1. Max who?
McCarthy’s time began as Darnold signed with Seattle. He promptly began this season throwing at least one interception in each of his first six NFL starts. That tied him for league ignominy with Zach Mettenberger, Blake Bortles and DeShone Kizer.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLast weekend at Green Bay McCarthy threw 19 passes. The Packers intercepted two of them, and sacked him five times. He threw for a career-low 87 yards with no touchdowns and a dismal passer rating of 34. 2 in Minnesota’s 23-6 loss.
And he got concussed. McCarthy is out for Sunday at Seattle. So is veteran backup Carson Wentz. He’s on injured reserve with a shoulder issue.
So undrafted rookie Max Brosmer will make his first career start. It will be the first time a rookie free agent has started a game at quarterback for the Vikings.
Macdonald’s tricky, changing defense against a former four-year QB at lower-division New Hampshire then one season at Minnesota should be a decisive advantage for Seattle. That is, if the Seahawks do what they’ve done all season so far: Stop the Vikings’ 24th-ranked rushing offense with lead back Jordan Mason from running and forcing Brosmer into third down and long situations.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat would give Macdonald the canvas to create his mixing blitzes and coverages, or just rely on Seattle’s front-four pass rushers of Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Byron Murphy and Derick Hall to keep creating pressures.
Brosmer will be the fourth quarterback to make his first NFL start against a defense Macdonald has coached. The first three were Houston’s C.J. Stroud and Cleveland’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson against Macdonald’s Baltimore Ravens defense, then Denver’s Bo Nix to begin the 2024 season in Seattle. All three lost, and had a combined passer rating of just 52.0 in those debut games against Macdonald’s defense.
Unlike you, the 38-year-old Macdonald has been hearing about Brosmer, 24, for years. They went to the same high school, Centennial in Roswell, Georgia.
“Well, he’s got a really high academic pedigree,” Macdonald joked Friday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“No, he’s played good football when he’s been in there. He’s been decisive, throws it on time. Seems like he’s really accurate. There’s not a lot of plays, but you go back and some of the college stuff is really impressive, as well.”
Asked if anyone specifically from Centennial High has talked to Macdonald about Brosmer, the Seahawks coach said with a grin: “No. Nobody talks to me from Centennial. They disowned me.”
2. Minnesota’s blitz and sacks
A key to Darnold’s success this season in Seattle is he’s been sacked just 11 times in 11 games.
That’s as many times as he was sacked in his final two games for Minnesota: The Vikings’ 31-9 loss at Detroit in the NFC North title game in week 18, then the NFL playoff record-tying nine times the Rams sacked Darnold in a 27-9 Los Angeles win in the wild-card playoffs.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Flo,” Minnesota’s defensive coordinator Flores, this week promised to send more of his many exotic blitzes at Darnold Sunday.
“He did a lot of great things when he was here. And clearly those things are continuing to show up for him out there in Seattle,” Flores told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We had a great rapport, friendship.
“I’m happy for him — but we’ll blitz him this week.”
So far, Darnold has responded to defenses blitzing him. Pro Football Focus has him with a passer rating of 88.6 when blitzed. Darnold has a sack percentage of 3.56. That’s a career low. Last year with the Vikings it was 8.09, with the sacks that ended his and Minnesota’s postseason almost as soon as it began.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDarnold’s 11 sacks in 11 games are the fewest in the NFL for a QB with at least 250 passes thrown over any 11-game stretch in his debut season with a team since 2020. That’s when Philip Rivers got sacked just 10 times in his first 11 games for Indianapolis.
No team blitzes more than Flores’ Vikings. Darnold knows that.
“You’ve got to have answers,” Darnold said. “It’s up to us as players and our coaching staff, as well, to just be able to have a good plan going into the game, and for us as players to be able to go execute that plan.”
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) scrambles to pass during the third quarter of the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field, on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Seattle. Brian Hayes/[email protected]3. The pick
Macdonald is too intricate in his designs and calls to get beat by an undrafted rookie quarterback in his first start, in Seattle or anywhere.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKenneth Walker runs for nearly 100 yards against Minnesota’s 24th-ranked rushing defense.
The Seahawks get to 9-3 heading to Atlanta next week — with consecutive home games against the Colts and a rematch with the Rams following that.
Seahawks 24, Vikings 9
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