The Seattle Seahawks don't play the New York Jets in Week 17, but the link between the Jets and Seattle's next opponent, the Carolina Panthers, is very real for quarterback Sam Darnold. New York was the team that drafted him. Carolina was, in many ways, the team that saved him.
The QB was the third overall choice in the 2018 NFL draft. He started immediately, but the Jets gave up on him after three seasons and traded him to the Panthers. New York, in their lack of wisdom, then chose Zach Wilson with the first-round draft pick they got from Carolina. Wilson has not worked out with any team he has played for.
Darnold appears to be greatly appreciative of the fact that he didn't have to stay in New York. Who knows where his career might have led? But to hear the quarterback put it, his career didn't really start until he was traded to the Panthers, where better players and better human beings surrounded him.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold clearly happy to have been traded by the New York Jets
"The couple years in Carolina were huge for me," Darnold told the media ahead of Week 17. "First of all, I think just being around really good players, being around really good guys in the locker room, those are moments that I remember forever. Some of those guys are still some of my best friends to this day. Then just learning football."
Clearly, whatever was happening in New York wasn't working for anyone. The organization wasn't a winner during Darnold's time there, just as no one involved with the team has been a winner since 2015. Before that, the last time the Jets had a winning season was 2010.
It is seemingly a doomed organization that consistently makes bad decisions, from management down. Sometimes, the decisions the Jets make in which players to keep are just as bad as which ones to sign in free agency or take in any given draft.
The Seattle Seahawks currently have two first-round picks chosen by the New York Jets, and both players are very good. Darnold is one, and defensive lineman Leonard Williams is the other. New York simply seems to give up on would-be stars too soon.
One might wonder how the team's trade of cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts this year will work out. Based on recent history, Gardner will continue to be great, and New York will get no real returns on the players they eventually add from the deal.
What really matters for Seahawks fans, though, is that Sam Darnold has been, for the most part, a very good quarterback in 2025. He is signed for two more years, and hopefully, he will continue to lead the team to the postseason. The New York Jets should be so lucky.