Even with a turnover-less postseason, Darnold also pointed to his 20 turnovers during the regular season (14 INTs and six fumbles) as areas he could improve.
“Another area to grow is turnover. I felt I had too much turnover last year,” he said. “So just continue to — like I did in the playoffs — continue to have the right mindset at first and second, keep the big guys happy and get the ball out of my hands.”
It’s still a much better place than Darnold has ever found himself in the NFL. He said he still regrets not being able to get the job early in his career with the Jets.
“I think the dream for a player is you want to have the same franchise your whole career,” he said. “Maybe not; at least that’s what i was thinking. Even if we were destroying New York, I wanted to go and do it right. I wanted to go and win Super Bowls with the Jets. Obviously it didn’t happen, it wasn’t in the stars for me, but that’s what I wanted; that was the dream.”
Darnold also talked about the long stretch of his career for Seattle, where he went from the Jets to the Panthers to the 49ers to the Vikings before getting another chance to lead a team. He said his experience in Minnesota was “amazing,” but he also saw the writing on the wall following the Vikings’ 14-3 season in 2024, with the club offering Darnold a “minimum” one-year deal with JJ McCarthy waiting in the wings.
“For me, I think being successful at a place and getting to know the guys in the locker room, of course you want to make it work,” Darnold said. “But shortly after negotiations, it was like, OK, it’s not going to be a spot.”
Darnold said he wasn’t “brutal” and understood the position of former Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
“I understand where GM was coming from, I absolutely do,” he said. “You see that with a lot of teams. … Those rookie quarterbacks and their rookie contracts, trying to hit it hot while you have a rookie quarterback so you can pay other guys around him to make the team really good. I get that part of it, and I also get to draft a guy in the first round and have faith that he’s the guy.
“So for me, I had to tip my hat the way it is, I get it. I totally understand where they’re coming from. Going back to the beginning, everything happens for a reason. That’s part of it, too, where it’s like, OK, I’m just not supposed to be in Minnesota next year, and that’s fine with me.”
His nature served him right. Even with Darnold seemingly confirming in the interview that the Steelers were another option he had considered, the fit in Seattle ended up being the right one. He didn’t reach perfection, but Darnold’s Super Bowl victory made the experimentation process well worth it in the end.