Sam Darnold did not torpedo his possibilities at a giant payday after two dangerous video games to complete the season … no less than that is what NFL super-agent Leigh Steinberg thinks — telling TMZ Sports activities he believes the Minnesota Vikings will persist with him because the franchise quarterback.
Darnold — the No. 3 general decide in 2018 — had a profession resurgence within the 2024-25 marketing campaign … throwing for greater than 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns as he led the Vikes to a 14-3 file.
His sizzling streak fizzled out down stretch, although … with the crew’s Tremendous Bowl desires coming to an finish after a poor outing in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams within the Wild Card spherical on Monday.
All that being mentioned, Steinberg believes the group will have a look at the large image — not simply Darnold’s final two video games — and can in the end resolve to maintain No. 14 underneath heart, regardless of having first-round decide J.J. McCarthy on the roster.
“I think so at the end of the day,” Steinberg says, “because if you take his whole body of work, it played very well and he was every bit a franchise quarterback — he lit it up during the season.”
Steinberg — the real-life inspiration for the film “Jerry Maguire” — added the Vikes cannot be too thrilled with how Darnold carried out in Week 18 in opposition to the Detroit Lions and in Monday’s 27-9 loss … however feels they perceive it would not mirror what he is able to doing on the gridiron.
If that is what Minnesota finally ends up doing, a pleasant increase might be on the horizon for Darnold … as he was on a one-year, $10 million deal earlier than his general stellar 2024 season.
Steinberg’s guess is fairly educated — in any case, he is repped huge names like Patrick Mahomes, Troy Aikman and Steve Younger … so he is aware of the ins and outs of the NFL.
Steinberg additionally talked to us about his basis, which was created to assist consciousness, prevention and remedy for concussions … and shared an extremely thrilling growth within the discipline.
