Ex-Jets GM Who Drafted Sam Darnold Speaks Out amid QB's Run to Super Bowl 60 with Seahawks

Former New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan takes a small level of personal satisfaction in seeing Sam Darnold thrive and help lead the Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl LX.

Maccagnan led the front office in 2018, when New York made Darnold the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL draft. He got the boot a year later, while Darnold's Jets tenure came to an end with his 2021 trade to the Carolina Panthers.

"I was always kind of sad that Sam wasn't able to fulfill that potential in New York," Maccagnan said to ESPN's Rich Cimini. "That's where he started his journey, and, in an ideal world, he would've finished it there.

"But it wasn't meant to be, and he had to go on his own journey to grow and develop in different places. It makes me feel good that he's fulfilling his potential. It's not necessarily vindication. In our business, when you see something, and it turns out the way you envisioned it, it makes you feel good. I think every scout probably feels that way."

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Hindsight is always 20/20.

Jamal Adams, who played on the Jets from 2017-19, believes Darnold could've had it all click in New York eventually.

"Man, if only New York had some patience with him," Adams told Cimini. "Like, he was the guy, man. He was gonna be The Guy. He just needed time."

The way in which the Jets have cycled through quarterbacks and head coaches since Darnold's arrival in 2018 raises some questions over that idea. They're simply not a functional organization, and that tends to hinder the development of younger players.

Not to mention, the unforgiving New York media market makes it tough to be patient with a quarterback who's struggling to adjust. Darnold got three seasons as the starter, while the Jets were pretty much ready to cut bait on Zach Wilson after just two. Wilson only saw the field in 2023 because of Aaron Rodgers' Week 1 Achilles injury.

Darnold not only benefited from a change of scenery, but that also put him on a path to work under two respected offensive coaches in the San Francisco 49ers' Kyle Shanahan and Minnesota Vikings' Kevin O'Connell before he landed in Seattle.

Maccagnan can feel a sense of vindication that the two-time Pro Bowler had his breakthrough.

But a general manager is also tasked with building the right structure around his players, and Maccagnan failed in that regard with the Jets.