Is The Sam Darnold Era Over in New York?

The New York Jets are going to be busy this offseason. While their first priority will be finding a new head coach after firing Adam Gase, the next move will be deciding whether Sam Darnold will be their quarterback in 2021.

On Tuesday, Jets general manager Joe Douglas wouldn’t say if Darnold would be back in 2021.

“Look, we’ve got a lot of decisions to make,” Douglas said in an end-of-season Zoom call with reporters. “I think Sam’s going to be a great quarterback. I’m excited to get a head coach in here and go through our process. “I think Sam has a very bright future in this league. We’re going to get a head coach in here, we’re going to get together and we’re going to talk about quite a few decisions. I’m excited about Sam.”

Those comments differ from what Douglas said earlier this season when he alleged that Darnold was the team’s quarterback of their future.

“I want to turn this thing around and I believe that we can,” Darnold said on Monday. “There’s going to be a lot of work involved in that and we all know it’s a process. We have great people in the organization, in the locker room. It’s a work in progress and I definitely want to stay here hopefully for the rest of my career.”

His passion is clear, but at the end of the day, the Jets will be looking to win. With that in mind, should they keep Darnold? The answer is no. When the Jets drafted Darnold three years ago, there was a lot of hype that he was going to be a great quarterback. However, Darnold hasn’t lived up to such claims.

This season, Darnold threw for 2,208 yards, nine touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He finished the season with a 72.7 passer rating, which was the lowest grade in the league. Darnold has a 13-25 record in three seasons with the Jets. While Darnold can get better and improve, it likely won’t happen in New York.

The writing is on the wall. The Jets should move on from Darnold and draft a quarterback.

The Darnold era in New York should be over.