Nine possible teams for Pro Bowl quarterback in 2025 NFL season

For most of the 2024 season, Sam Darnold has been on a magical journey loaded with euphoric moments that have exceeded all expectations set for the former first-round bust.

Under coach Kevin O’Connell, Darnold enjoyed a career campaign in Minnesota on a one-year contract worth $10 million. The quarterback recorded personal bests in numerous categories, including passing yards (4,319), passing touchdowns (35), completion percentage (66.2) and passer rating ( 102.5). He made his first Pro Bowl and helped the Vikings win 14 games. A signal-caller who initially appeared to be a temporary bridge (at best) to rookie JJ McCarthy had proven himself to be a viable long-term starter over the course of the season – until the final two games.

When the stakes were high, Darnold failed. He completed just 18 of 41 attempts in a 31-9 loss to the Lions in a Week 18 game that decided the NFC North and the conference’s top seed owner. He followed that up with a 25-for-40 performance for 245 yards during Wild Card Weekend, which was much worse visually than those stats suggest. With an average time to throw of 3.21 seconds, Darnold had a nightmare postseason outing that saw him take nine sacks in the 27-9 loss to the Rams. In the biggest moments, Darnold failed to match the production that had previously inspired serious talk of being awarded a highly lucrative contract this offseason.

Now the offseason has officially arrived for the Vikings, who will trudge through 2025, still licking their wounds while trying to figure out what went wrong. The answer, although reductive, is not complicated: it was Darnold. His play collapsed at the worst possible time, destroying the confidence he had built during his first season with the Vikings. Darnold now approaches free will with a wide range of possible outcomes.

Where could Darnold land? What will compensation look like? Let’s look at the possibilities.