With J.J. McCarthy going down in the preseason, Sam Darnold was given a chance to redeem himself with the Minnesota Vikings. After posting a really impressive 2024 season, Ben Rolfe predicted that the Pittsburgh Steelers would sign Darnold.

“If Wilson and Fields are not coming back, then the best free agent quarterback is Sam Darnold. Playing for the Vikings last year, Darnold produced his best season, finishing as the QB12 in our QB+ metric — above both Wilson and Fields. He still needs help to elevate this team to a deep playoff run, but Darnold would allow the Steelers to remain competitive in 2025,” wrote Rolfe.

Darnold was selected 3rd overall coming out of USC with the weight of New York on his shoulders. Like most quarterbacks as of late, Darnold had a rough time with the Jets. In Darnold’s three years with the team, Darnold never had more than 3,100 passing yards.

To make it worse, Darnold had double-digit interceptions each year from 2018 to 2021 without throwing more than 20 touchdowns in any season. Once Darnold threw nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions with the Carolina Panthers, most thought his career was over.

After getting an opportunity to start last season, Darnold has become a coveted free agent this offseason.

Sam Darnold Signs With The Pittsburgh Steelers: Prediction Reaction

After not having a starting job for two years, Darnold would sign with the Vikings in 2024 to potentially bridge the gap for J.J. McCarthy. Once McCarthy went down, Darnold would step in and have a great season.

In 2024, Darnold had 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions (17 games). Despite losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card, that season worked wonders for Darnold’s market value.

With the Vikings spending the 10th overall pick on McCarthy, it would be surprising if they traded him instead of Darnold. It won’t make sense for the Vikings to have Darnold as their bridge quarterback anymore with how much he’s worth on the open market.

Earlier this offseason, I had predicted that the Cleveland Browns would replace Deshaun Watson with Darnold. In my article, I had written, “Browns have $42 million in cap space and by the offseason, they should be able to pay Darnold. For a team that’s so desperate for a quarterback, the Browns can’t afford to not take a shot on him.”

That statement still stands true today. The Browns are in desperation mode and it seems unlikely that the Steelers will out-bid a team with this mentality.

Cleveland could select either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, but it’s not like either are can’t-miss prospects. It would make more sense for the Browns to have Darnold and Abdul Carter/Travis Hunter instead of Ward/Sanders and Darnold.