Giants should sign QB Sam Darnold to short-term deal

The New York Giants are in the market for a starting quarterback this offseason. There are a few avenues they will go down in their efforts to find one.

They have the 2025 NFL draft, free agency, and the trade market to explore in able to find some stability under center. One main candidate is Sam Darnold, the former Jets flameout who rejuvenated his career with the Minnesota Vikings this season.

WFAN host Evan Roberts said on the air on Tuesday that Darnold, after turning in consecutive clunkers the past two weeks in the spotlight, shouldn’t be considered by the Giants or the Jets this offseason.

“Ultimately, you’re not winning a damn thing with him,” Roberts said. “Is this guy ever gonna be able to get that level? He was in a perfect situation this year. He had Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Kevin O’Connell. But when it mattered most against the Lions in Week 18 and against the Rams in the playoffs, we saw ghost-fearing Sam Darnold.

“Isn’t a part of that him holding onto the football for too damn long? Isn’t part of it him being inaccurate? He wrote his own script.”

Roberts, a Jets fan who once partnered with another long-suffering Jets fan, Joe Benigno, isn’t falling for the national rhetoric that Darnold is over the woes that have turned him from a No. 3 overall pick to a journeyman backup-level quarterback.

“We saw him struggle for years. We saw it here in New York and as he bounced around the league,” Roberts continued. “He failed in the biggest moment twice. So if I were the Jets or Giants, I wouldn’t have a lot of interest in him.”

Roberts’ current radio partner, former Giants great Tiki Barber, says he would like to see his former team give Darnold a shot if no better options present themselves.

“Honestly, I would take him on the Giants, assuming the draft options are not available,” Barber said. “Sam Darnold would be someone I’d want, but not for $50 million. It’s a short-term deal, maybe mid $30s.”

Watching the way Darnold folded the past two weeks in big games should have turned everyone off. He clearly reverted back to his old self, and that is a player very few NFL teams wanted.