We had Sam Darnold

[Panthero]

You cant live life this. Always wringing your hands about what could have been. Truth is as an organization we weren't ready to be responsible so we missed the opportunities when they presented themselves. Thats what we are really mad about, not missed players but having an organization that was (is?--seems to be much better) dysfunctional. Fix the foundation and the wins come, quit looking for heros to solve all the other problems that should be addressed.

[fanpanther]

8 hours ago, Aussie Tank said:

He needed to go to San Fran and Minnesota to become what he is now.

i had forgotten about san fran wonder of mac jones will have the same resurgance after shanahan works with him.  vikings fans have it even worse then panther fans though bc they let him leave when he was actually good

[SmokinwithWilly]

9 hours ago, strato said:

I have to say, whatever the reason was, Baker was not good here, there was little indication he was gonna be good. 

Other than that I pretty much blame Tepper for the first 7 years of his stewardship being pure misery and full of fugtardedness. Things were finally somewhat improved upon in year 8. No coach under Tepper even smelled 8 wins before. And that coach did it with Bryce Young. While most people hated on him. 

How they treated the Baker/Sam thing was a joke. He was used as a DE on the PS. He may not have been any good here had he really been given a chance to succeed, but that whole situation was a clusterfug. I don't blame him for wanting out of this Tepper led poo show. 

[toldozer]

I don't have any disdain for Sam like I do Baker. Fatt Fhule was never going to be successful regardless of quarterback. Hoping the Seahawks win it.

[toldozer]

3 hours ago, fanpanther said:

i had forgotten about san fran wonder of mac jones will have the same resurgance after shanahan works with him.  vikings fans have it even worse then panther fans though bc they let him leave when he was actually good

And for the mess that is "nine"

[musicman]

Happy for Sam. His request for music was always Blink 182. Always nice. I remember a private party with all the players at Shaq's house, all the guys liked him too, always having fun with everyone. Cool dude. SF opened his eyes to "doing it right" and then he showed it in Minnesota and now Seattle. Watch more vets under the right leadership and surroundings excel. Sometimes players need a few years in the right environment to succeed. 

Edited 3 hours ago by musicman

[DeAngelo Beason]

Sam was the only turd that floated in our offense.  That should have been a sign that the potential was there.  I advocated for keeping him and getting some talent around him, but Tepper and co held on to the delusion that they needed to draft a QB #1 overall.  

[MHS831]

In the last 5 years, nearly 10% of the NFL's starting QBs (19% of the NFC QBs) were / are (at some point) on the Panther's roster.  Of those QBs, their 2025 win percentage (regular season) was (combined-- the Seahawks, Bucs, and Panthers) won 30 of 51 games--nearly 60%--in 2025.  At an average of 10 wins per season, a team has a better than 90% chance of making the playoffs.  (Heck, I nearly added Caleb Williams to this forumula since we basically gave the Bears their QB as well).

I

Edited 2 hours ago by MHS831

[LinvilleGorge]

We had Darnold in a terrible situation for Sam Darnold and the team he's QBing. Darnold is best deployed as a high level game manager. He has elite throwing skills but he's disaster waiting to happen when he has to press and a QB has to press on a bad team. Seattle is a great spot for him surrounded with great weapons with an elite defense to lean on. 

Swap him and Stafford last night and the Seahawks cruise while Darnold has 3-4 turnovers having to try to play hero ball for the Rams.

[Khaki Lackey]

If I'm not mistaken, Sam started football later in life than most QBs. Some people need time to develop and when given the opportunity, can find success if they get a few tries at something. Good for Sam, he's always been a class act and I hope he wins a superbowl. Having said that, in pro sports, you can't hold on to a guy for seven years in hopes that they realize their potential.

[d-dave]

Sam got excellent coaching in SF and in Minny.  Baker had sometime with McVay.

Coaching matters.

[rodeo]

Damn if only we had thought to build the a top 3 defense to carry him to the SB. Oh well, live and learn, glad we re-signed Evero.

[Tomcatn]

Should've, could've would've. Thanks Rhule

[h0llywood]

Even if he was on this team today, he wasn't going to take it to the Super Bowl. Sam is where he is supposed to be.