One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Sam Darnold spent three miserable seasons with the Jets before being traded to the Carolina Panthers this offseason. Now with his new team, Darnold is showcasing a mentality that may have been missing from his tenure with the Jets.
“Watching him through OTAs, I can tell he has that dog mentality,” Carolina defensive end Brian Burns said on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” on Wednesday. “It takes a little bit — he’s got to get comfortable with the team. He just got there. I can already tell he’s going to be a great addition to the group and a great leader for the offense.”
The 24-year-old Darnold, whom Burns also described as a “cool dude,” failed to live up to the hype of being the third-overall pick in the 2018 draft.
He led the Jets to a 13-25 record while missing 10 games due to injury or illness. He had just one season where he threw for over 3,000 yards (3,024 in 2019, which ranked 25th in the league) while passing for 45 touchdowns, 39 interceptions and losing seven fumbles overall.
This led to the Jets selecting Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick in this year’s NFL Draft to be their next franchise quarterback. They got a 2021 sixth-round pick, 2022 second-rounder and 2022 fourth-rounder from the Panthers for Darnold weeks before taking Wilson.
Carolina apparently feels comfortable enough with Darnold at the helm moving forward. The Panthers pledged their allegiance by trading away last year’s starter, Teddy Bridgewater. Now with P.J Walker and Will Grier as the only other quarterbacks on the roster, Darnold will be the unquestioned starter for next season.
Since the Panthers picked up Darnold’s fifth-year option, he is owed $18.858 million this season. But if he proves to not be the long-term answer in Carolina, then they can simply let him walk in free agency.