Sam Darnold spent much of the season not knowing his future with the New York Jets, but now that is over after he got traded to the Carolina Panthers.
“There’s a little bit of both — relief and excitement,” Darnold said, via Darin Gantt of Panthers.com. “There’s been so much uncertainty this offseason, not knowing what your future was going to look like, that was hard. . . . But now that I’m in Charlotte, I’m excited, and yeah, I guess I am kind of relieved to be here.”
The relief came after some “tough” conversations with his agent regarding the possibility of being sent somewhere else.
“I imagined I was going to be the franchise quarterback of the New York Jets for a long time,” Darnold said. “And once you realize that the team that drafted you is moving on, it stings a little bit.”
“To go from being unwanted to being wanted is huge,” Darnold said. “Getting that news that you’re going to be traded, of a team saying, ‘Hey, we didn’t want you,” for whatever reason, is hard. . . . But right now, I feel great about it, and I’m excited to get here, and get started.”
Darnold might feel good now, but so did Teddy Bridgewater when he signed his deal with the Panthers. After just one season, the team has already moved on from him as the starting QB.
Darnold’s departure from the New York Jets was something that appeared inevitable once the club secured the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft and began zeroing in on BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
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Darnold owns a 13-25 record as a starter, has completed 59.8% of his passes and is averaging 213.1 yards per game through the air. He also has 45 passing touchdowns to 39 interceptions.
