After one season with the San Francisco 49ers, Sam Darnold left for a breakout 2024 campaign with the Minnesota Vikings. He parlayed that success into a lucrative contract with the Seattle Seahawks, where he will now face his former team twice a year.
At his introductory press conference, Darnold expressed his deep appreciation for his time with the 49ers, explicitly highlighting the lessons he learned there from quarterback Brock Purdy.
"I really thank Brock a ton, Brock Purdy, for just his style of playing," Darnold told reporters. "And how he kind of described his style was like, 'We've got a ton of great playmakers on offense. My job is just to play point guard, and get the ball in their hands, and let them go do great things with the rock.'
"And when I started to change my thought process as a quarterback to kind of just getting the ball in my guys' hands, then that really kind of [is] where it unlocked for me a little bit."
Sam Darnold credits Brock Purdy during his intro presser with Seattle for helping him "unlock" his development as a quarterback: pic.twitter.com/5M3B7AInNH
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) March 14, 2025
The Seahawks secured Darnold with a three-year, $100.5 million deal. Meanwhile, Purdy, one of the NFL's best bargains as the last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is poised to receive a significantly larger contract. Many expect Purdy's next deal to exceed $50 million annually, making him one of the league's highest-paid players.
While Darnold capitalized on his 14-3 season with the Vikings to land his new contract, Purdy and the 49ers are coming off a disappointing 6-11 record. Team management made several tough roster decisions this offseason, knowing a substantial portion of San Francisco's salary cap will soon be tied to a single player.