Six days ago, the Seahawks struck a deal with quarterback Sam Darnold. He has since signed it.
And the details of the deal remain under lock and key.
Dozens of contracts have been filed and dissected over the past week. To date, Darnold’s hasn’t shown up. Anywhere.
We’ve shaken the trees we usually shake in search of contract details. We shook it again this morning, after sharing with the source the theory that it’s being kept hidden. The source agreed.
It can’t stay hidden forever. The goal might be to delay it past the point at which most will noice.
It was reported as a three-year, $100.5 million deal. The biggest question is whether it has a year-to-year structure, like the three-year, $75 million base deal signed by Geno Smith in 2023.
Depending on the amount of full guarantees in 2026, it’s possible that Darnold is getting one year to show that last year wasn’t an aberration, and that the Seahawks will be able to cut Darnold loose if he reverts to a ghost-seeing pumpkin without Kevin O’Connell, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson.
If so, that would show he didn’t have a very robust market, with no one presumably offering him multiple years of fully-guaranteed compensation.
Regardless of the specific reason(s), the fact remains that, despite many of the deals being available for analysis and comment, Darnold’s deal remains a question mark.
It can’t stay under wraps forever. Whenever it surfaces, we’ll break it all down.
Defensive lineman Derrick Nnadi has found a new team.
Nnadi’s agents announced on Sunday that their client has agreed to terms on a contract with the Jets. They did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Nnadi entered the NFL as a 2018 third-round pick in Kansas City and he’s spent his entire career with the team. Nnadi started 86 regular season games and 12 playoff contests over his first six seasons, including three Super Bowl wins, but moved into a reserve role in 2024.
Nnadi had 233 tackles, five sacks, and a forced fumble in his regular season action. He had 38 tackles and a sack in his postseason appearances.
Jets receiver Garrett Wilson reportedly wasn’t looking forward to a third season with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Wilson feels very differently about what will be his third year with quarterback Justin Fields.
Wilson and Fields spent two years together at Ohio State. Via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Wilson has told friends he’s “thrilled” Fields has signed with the Jets.
As Wilson was entering the draft three years ago, he spoked about the possibility of partnering up with Fields, who at the time played for the Bears.
“If that would happen, that would be awesome,” Wilson said at the time, per Cimini. “I haven’t really thought about where I’d be playing. Anywhere would be a blessing. Definitely, to link back up with Justin -- and to do that on the NFL level -- would be a dream come true, for sure.”
The dream is coming true. And, to the extent Wilson regarded his time with Rodgers as something closer to a nightmare, it’s over. (Wilson still had career highs in catches (101), receiving yards (1,104), and touchdowns (seven) in 2024 with Rodgers.)
We’ll see whether it works with Wilson and Fields. However, there’s no denying Wilson’s skills. The ball should be thrown his way, often. It should end up in his hands repeatedly. He’s a special talent, one who seemed to take a backseat to the fact that Rodgers has a couple of Green Bay BFFs on the roster.
The question is whether Fields can unlock a higher degree of passing skills in New York. Maybe having Wilson as a target is precisely what Fields needs to get there.
Three weeks ago, it seemed as if he was in danger of slipping into irrelevance. Now, he’s in the center of the NFL’s spotlight.
And everybody wants to know what Aaron Rodgers will do in 2025.
The four-time NFL MVP participated in the RX3 charity flag football game on Saturday. We’ve searched high and low for any indication that Rodgers had anything to say, to anyone about anything. We’ve seen no quotes from him.
The rumor mill will churn, with or without his input. And we’ve seen reports and contentions aiming in every possible direction: Steelers, Vikings, Giants, and even possibly retirement.
Retirement is a new one. While Rodgers hasn’t addressed the situation personally (and silence contributes to, if not invites, speculation), reports that he wanted to return to the Jets have fueled the presumption that he wants to play this year. And that, if he wanted to play for a chronically misguided franchise like the Jets, he’d play for anyone.
That perception was fueled by the news that, during the week of the Scouting Combine, he reached out to the Giants. This confirmed the notion he wants to play — and reinforced the appearance that there wasn’t widespread interest in his services.
Since then, the Steelers lowballed Justin Fields, the Vikings saw Sam Darnold sign with Seattle, and the Giants have added no one at the position (but for a one-year deal with Tommy DeVito).
On Saturday, TheAthletic.com posted a three-byline article regarding Rodgers’s interest in the Vikings. It was the most definitive link yet between Rodgers and Minnesota.
At the risk of being chastised, privately or publicly, for pointing this out, the Cal connection between Rodgers and one of the three names on the article (Mike Silver) gives the report added credibility, since it’s easy to conclude that Rodgers either supplied information or did nothing to tell Silver that he was way, way, way off.
Per the report, “Rodgers is hoping to sign with the Vikings.” And the Vikings have been “strongly weighing the possibility” of signing Rodgers.
The report claims that Rodgers wants a Darnold-style deal, at $33.5 million per year. That’s on the low end of reasonable for a quarterback like Rodgers, whose agent might be pushing him to expect more. (The agent, of course, gets a percentage of whatever Rodgers receives. Moreover, few agents want their names to be attached to contracts that look objectively subpar.)
The item from TheAthletic.com paints the situation as a simple one. Rodgers is waiting for the Vikings to make a decision, and he has put the Steelers and Giants on hold until he gets an answer from Minnesota.
It’s unclear why Rodgers would want to take the next step on the Brett Favre career arc, especially since joining the Vikings made Favre into Public Enemy No. 1 in Green Bay. Although fences eventually mended, Favre had to endure a game at Lambeau Field in 2009, during which he was loudly booed from start to finish. Rodgers might not be interested in having those who loved him for so long hating him, if only for one season or as little as one day.
The Vikings’ interest in Rodgers is confusing, too. First, Rodgers has shown only flashes of what he was when he won back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021. The Vikings need to see what they have in J.J. McCarthy. If they make a two-year commitment to the 41-year-old Rodgers, McCarthy could (and perhaps will) request a trade.
Rodgers could be the difference between another “just good enough is just good enough” season for the Vikings and a return to the Super Bowl for the first time in 49 years. Or it could be a siren’s song that crashes Minnesota’s entire season, while also delaying if not destroying the possibility that they have a young franchise quarterback in McCarty.
Ultimately, it comes down to what Rodgers wants, and what the Vikings want. Are the Steelers and Giants leverage for the Vikings? Are the Vikings leverage for the Steelers or Giants? Do the Giants realize, given that they recently hosted Russell Wilson and Joe Flacco, that they’re the team Rodgers is least likely to choose?
We’ll all keep waiting. And until Rodgers speaks for himself on the matter, the reports and rumors and speculation and candid (or staged) beach photos will continue.
Haason Reddick’s run of four straight seasons with at least 11 sacks came to an end in 2024 and limited production on the field was only part of the reason.
Reddick was traded by the Eagles to the Jets last offseason and did an introductory press conference with the team before deciding to hold out in hopes of landing a new contract. He ended it during the season, but had just one sack in 10 games for the AFC East club.
Reddick signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Buccaneers this week and said that he feels ready to pick up from where he was before the lost season.
“Very bizarre,” Reddick said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “Weird. It’s just a fresh start. I know everybody is worried about last year, but last year is last year,” he said Friday. “I’m here now. Different mindset. Different space. Just ready to put the past behind me and continue to move forward, and what better place to do it than here?”
If Reddick can rediscover his form, he’ll be well positioned for a bigger contract at this time next year and the Bucs defense will be a thorny one for opposing offenses.
