Minnesota Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is losing sleep over his decision to let quarterback Sam Darnold leave in free agency. Adofo-Mensah recently opened up about the situation, saying that while he doesn’t regret the choice, Darnold’s current success with the Seattle Seahawks has kept him up at night.
According to the Daily Mail, Darnold is now preparing to start in the Super Bowl, which is the main reason for the GM’s sleepless nights. Adofo-Mensah told reporters that these big decisions weigh heavily on him. He knows he can’t judge the decision based only on results, but those results are hard to ignore.
“You spend a lot of those nights, obviously, you’re up in these decisions and they’re uncertain,” Adofo-Mensah said. “There are nights you wake up and stare at the ceiling and ask yourself… I always go back to the process and what we thought at the time.”
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Darnold’s success with Seattle makes the Vikings’ decision look questionable
The results Adofo-Mensah is trying not to focus on include Darnold leading the Seahawks to a stunning 14-3 record, winning the division title, and earning the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Vikings went with 23-year-old rookie JJ McCarthy for the 2025 season. McCarthy is talented, but he only managed a 9-8 record, even with Minnesota having a top-rated defense.
It’s hard to defend the choice when Darnold is doing so well. That’s probably why fans found Adofo-Mensah’s honesty refreshing, even though they still blame him for the move. As one fan put it, it was a “waste of a year” to let a guy who went 14-3 with a contending roster walk for a rookie.
Darnold took five teams and eight seasons to finally reach the Super Bowl, showing his determination. He was once called a bust after telling coaches he was “seeing ghosts” during a bad loss early in his career. However, he started turning things around in 2024 with the Vikings. Many sports fans are already making their predictions for Super Bowl 60 as the big game approaches.
Darnold got his chance in Minneapolis only after McCarthy got injured in 2024, but he did extremely well under coach Kevin O’Connell. That season, he threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns, had a 102.5 passer rating, and led the Vikings to 14 wins. Despite that success, the Vikings still chose to stick with McCarthy.
The Seahawks signed Darnold to a three-year, $100.5 million contract to replace veteran Geno Smith. This move paid off right away, as Darnold made history by becoming the first quarterback ever to lead two different teams to 14 wins in back-to-back seasons. Even Tom Brady only achieved back-to-back 14-win seasons with one team, not two different ones.
In the NFC Championship game, Darnold threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in Seattle’s 31-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams while dealing with an oblique injury. Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald said Darnold “just shut a lot of people up. Really happy for him.” While the sports world focuses on Darnold’s success, other athletes have faced different challenges, including a boxer facing legal trouble recently.
Published: Jan 30, 2026 01:15 pm