3 Teams That Should Trade for Sam Darnold This Offseason

Sam Darnold has not lived up to the hype since being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. But even though he has struggled mightily in his time with the New York Jets, it's hard to deny his talent. He clearly still possesses an elite physical skillset, and it's not hard to imagine Darnold finding some success once he inevitably parts ways with Adam Gase and the Jets.

And since he's probably played his way out of being worth a first-round pick, there are plenty of QB-needy teams that could part with a mid-round pick to land the USC product. Here are three teams that should trade for Darnold in the offseason.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

Ben Roethlisberger is playing some of the best football of his career, but he's not likely to be the team's long-term solution at the position. He's going to be 39 years old by the time next season kicks off. Though he's done a better of protecting himself in 2020, Roethlisberger has taken a truly ridiculous amount of hits throughout his lengthy career. Both Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges have proven they're not going to be Roethlisberger's eventual successor, so Pittsburgh needs to make finding one a priority. Darnold would be a fantastic flyer for the team to take, and Pittsburgh could likely land him by surrendering a second- or third-round pick.

2. New Orleans Saints

Similarly, the New Orleans Saints need to find Drew Brees' successor. They've been pretty active in that regard, signing Teddy Bridgewater and Jameis Winston over the past few seasons. But Bridgewater took a big deal to go to Carolina, and New Orleans opted to start Taysom Hill over Winston when Brees went down in 2020. Though he's been fine, Hill hasn't exactly done enough to secure the position for himself long term. And Winston's inability to win the job doesn't exactly bode well for him, either. Adding Darnold would be very in line with the gambles we've already seen New Orleans take on both Bridgewater and Winston. Plus, it'd be fascinating to see what someone as talented as Darnold could do in Sean Payton's system.

1. San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is something of a QB whisperer. He's coaxed career seasons out of pretty much every signal-caller he's coached. That includes Matt Ryan's 2016 MVP season – a year Ryan has failed to replicate since parting ways with Shanahan. As an offensive coordinator, he built a top-10 scoring offense with Matt Schaub at QB in 2009 and helmed a top-five scoring offense with Robert Griffin III in his 2012 rookie campaign. Point being, if Darnold can't succeed in San Francisco, he's probably not going to succeed in the NFL, period. From San Francisco's perspective, Darnold is probably the most-talented QB the team could reasonably acquire this offseason. If the 49ers want to move off of Jimmy Garoppolo, Darnold would be a fantastic addition.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.