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Jets' Joe Douglas Rooting for Sam Darnold After Trade: 'He's Going to Do Good Things'
April 8, 2021
New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas is rooting for quarterback Sam Darnold after Gang Green traded him to the Carolina Panthers for three future draft picks.
He relayed those sentiments amid a longer talk with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer about the deal:
“Whether I look bad or not [for trading Darnold], I could give two s---s about that,” Douglas says, with a laugh. “I know that he’s gonna have success. The timing didn’t really work out for him here. We couldn’t turn this around fast enough for him. And that’s not his fault. I root for good people, and that dude’s a good man, and he’s gonna do good things. I believe that.”
New York selected Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
Darnold played three seasons for the Jets, completing 59.8 percent of his passes for 45 touchdowns (39 interceptions) in 38 games.
The Jets have been a team in turmoil for three years, and that certainly didn't help Darnold, who faced numerous obstacles during his brief tenure with New York.
New York parted ways with head coach Todd Bowles after the Jets went 5-11 during Darnold's rookie season. The Jets brought in head coach Adam Gase in 2019, and a power struggle eventually led to the removal of general manager Mike Maccagnan.
In came Douglas, but out went Gase after a 2-14 season in 2020. Gase went just 7-9 the previous year.
Now, ex-San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is in town as the Jets' third head coach in four seasons. New York is in position to pick a highly touted quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, and all signs point to them rolling with BYU's Zach Wilson.
That left Darnold out in the cold in New York, but he's found greener pastures in Carolina with a talented wideout crew (D.J. Moore, ex-Jets teammate Robby Anderson), star running back Christian McCaffrey and an innovative play-caller in Joe Brady.
He's in position to succeed, especially if Carolina finds some good options to beef up the offensive line in the draft.