Sam Darnold Trade Grade: Panthers Bank on Potential; Jets make the right decision

The Carolina Panthers have pounced on Sam Darnold.

The short-lived Darnold era in New York has officially ended, with the Jets sending quarterback Sam Darnold in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, and a 2022 fourth-round pick.

The Panthers are also reportedly choosing Darnold’s fifth-year option, meaning Darnold will have two years with Carolina to prove that he is the future guy for Matt Rull & Co.

The Jets, who many believed were a quarterback selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, now have too much cement. The Panthers get a damaged passerby for a hefty cost.

Here’s how the trade grades are out:

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Sam Darnold Trade Grade

Carolina: B

The trade really hinges on what the Panthers think Darnold might pursue: A second-round pick, even a year in the future, is a decent price to pay for a QB. , Which has turnover issues and has not shown a modicum. Stability since entering the league in 2018.

Then you add in the fourth rounder in 2022 and the sixth this year, and you get the sense that Carolina Really Wants to believe it will work.

Simply put, this whole deal comes down to one word: Capacity. Darnold, the former No. 3 overall pick, may still have something in his right hand, but a lot of work has to be done – especially for a quarter with turnover issues (39 interceptions in 38 games) and difficulty staying up Is sometimes healthy.

The Carolina organization believes they have a good structure to support Darnold, and rightly so: head coach Matt Rhode has already put his seal on the franchise, with offensive coordinator Joe Brady starting Teddy Bridgewater in 2020 Did a good job with a limited offensive attack on the back. And the organization has been one of the more stable and competitive teams in the league for the better part of a decade.

Although Carolina probably likes other passers-by, but Houston’s Deshan Watson was definitely one, Matthew Stafford was another – squeezing that bit of ability and “fixing” what has become Darnold of Carolina. Might be worth it. Robbie Anderson can certainly help, as well as ease the burden, by giving Darneald a running game with Christian McKeffrey and reuniting him with a favorite goal.

Consider that Guelle was working for Jet Coaching before Adam moved to Gesse, Rull realizes that there is too much left in the tank, which Darnold has shown.

but then…

If it wasn’t Darnold, then who? Teddy Bridgwater and Carolina have a path to a divorce, and Carolina sits at No. 8 NFL Draft in 2021 – and a three-stud quarterback prospect going into the top five – it was a tough road for a rogue passerby to navigate. . .

With the Panthers searching for the next franchise man, they are going to hope that Darnold’s “Shine” was a preview of the time to come.

Jets: A-

From the second the Jets hired general manager Joe Douglas, Darnold’s tenure clock ticked.

It is a story as old as time: the GM wants to choose his head coach, and his head coach wants to choose his quarterback. Adam Gesse was not Douglas’s man; Nor Sam Darnold, who was drafted the year before Douglas’ arrival. They have a chance to pick up a QB at number 2 later this year and finally (maybe? Possibly?) Find an answer in QB status.

Whether it was a lack of organizational support, gas head coaching hires, roster mismanagement or the fact that Darnold was not Douglas’s man, New York was the Darnold era … Horrific. It is hard to tell any quarterback to succeed in that position, much less a quarterback who many have come to know is a project that comes out of USC.

Keeping Darnold for Year 4 was never an option for New York – until he was dismissed in 2020 and overcame major hurdles. Instead, Darnold decided again and made a much easier decision for Douglas.

Douglas and the Jets were put into a winning position in the 2021 season, placing Darnold: Darnold had a wonderful year, do you owe them big money? If he has an average year, where do you go from there?

Douglas cut down on Darnold – the wise organizational move – before answering that question, the possibility of resetting the QB position with a rookie deal.

The only real knock for the Jets here, if you can call it a single, the Jets can get back to Imtiaz. Has the Jets used a better pick in 2021 in this trade? Yes. Did he maximize his return for a man who was not the answer in New York? Yes too.

Douglas did the most he could for a quarterback to get value from a fad cost that did not show that he could elevate the players around him regardless of the situation. It’s kind of crazy for everyone to consider it and their mother knew the Jets were going to pick up a QB this year – and somehow the Jets still squeezed a second rounder out of position.

While reports suggested that Darnold could go for the first offers in the first round, the Jets were getting more for another high-round pick and a quarterback in the future who was not going to advance. Jets GM is no less than.

Now, New York, with the No. 2 pick in the draft, will certainly select a passer-by: be it Zach Wilson of BYU, Justin Fields of Ohio State or Trey Lance of North Dakota State. But what we do know is that Darnold will not be a boy.