Before he wound up putting together the season of his life with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, veteran quarterback Sam Darnold spent the 2023 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup behind Brock Purdy.
Well, earlier this week, an idea was shared that has Darnold re-signing with the 49ers in free agency this offseason to compete for the team's starting quarterback job with Purdy.
During a recent episode of "The Cohn Zohn" show, Lowell Cohn, who is a former columnist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and San Francisco Chronicle, shared a potential plan that San Francisco could carry out this offseason with its quarterback situation.
"Here's what I think [and] what I would like to see. [Darnold's] a free agent, the Niners bring him in, in the best of all worlds, and they say to him and Brock, 'You're equal, you're competing. You're competing for the No. 1 job.'"
Signing with the San Francisco 49ers to compete with Brock Purdy is a worst-case scenario for Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold
While Cohn's scenario is certainly an interesting one, a lot of things would have to occur in order for it to even potentially become a reality.
Darnold is 27-years-old and he's coming off a 2024 season where he just threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns. He's going to have interest from multiple teams when free agency begins next week, and most likely, those teams are going to be interested in making him their starter for the 2025 campaign.
If Darnold somehow doesn't end up signing with a franchise that wants him to be their No. 1 signal-caller next season, then he will probably start talking to teams who are willing to bring him in to at least compete for the starting job.
Could the 49ers be one of these teams? Sure, it's possible, but it would seem odd for San Francisco to put Purdy in a quarterback competition after he's gone 23-13 as a starter since 2022.
Now, if the 49ers wanted to trade Purdy this offseason, and then bring in Darnold as his replacement, then that makes a bit more sense.
San Francisco and Purdy have already begun talks about a potential contract extension for the young signal-caller. But if the 49ers decide in the near future that they don't want to give him a big, lucrative extension, then they could turn to alternative solutions like trading Purdy and signing Darnold.
Re-signing with San Francisco still seems like a long shot for Darnold this year. But the NFL offseason is always packed full of surprises, so it's always a good idea to just expect the unexpected.