CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl.
Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. Darnold is now on his fifth team … that’s right, FIVE teams in EIGHT years.
Sam Darnold wasn’t just on a Super Bowl-winning team, but he also played well enough for his Seattle Seahawks to have a 14-3 regular-season record and then win three playoff games.
Yes, Seattle has an elite defense. But the Sam Darnold most of us know often loses games for his team.
Turnovers.
Fumbles.
Jittery in the pocket.
Darnold actually led the NFL in turnovers this season. He threw 14 interceptions and lost six fumbles. That’s 20. That usually is a loser’s stat.
Let’s check the numbers
Here are the top QBs in turnovers in 2025:
20: Darnold.
18: Geno Smith.
15: Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence and Bryce Young.
14: Baker Mayfield. J.J. McCarthy and Cam Ward.
Out of that group of nine, four made the playoffs: Darnold, Lawrence, Herbert and Young.
I went deeper into the turnover issue, lost fumbles:
7: Ward.
6: Darnold.
5: Jared Goff.
4: Jalen Hurts, Jacoby Brissett and Bryce Young.
For what it’s worth, former Brown Joe Flacco had 13 turnovers (10 interceptions, 3 fumbles). Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders had 11 (10 interceptions, one fumble).
Lamar Jackson has won two MVP awards but has never been to a Super Bowl. APThe 2018 draft
Darnold was the third pick in the same 2018 QB draft with Mayfield (No. 1, Cleveland), Josh Allen (No. 7, Buffalo), Josh Rosen (No. 10, Cardinals) and Lamar Jackson (No. 32, Ravens).
Jackson has won a pair of MVP awards. Allen has won one.
But the only QB in that draft to not only reach the Super Bowl but also win it is Darnold – and Darnold did it with his fifth team.
For much of his career, Darnold played on bad teams and was haunted by turnovers – especially lost fumbles.
I dug into the stats since 2018 and discovered the following. These are regular-season stats from Stat Muse:
Most interceptions: Mayfield 101; Allen 94; Goff 88; Patrick Mahomes 84; Darnold 82.
Most fumbles lost: Goff 33; Allen, Jackson and Daniel Jones 29. No one else had more than 27.
Total turnovers: Allen 123; Mayfield 122; Goff 121; Darnold 106; and Kirk Cousins 103.
Note: Darnold’s turnover numbers are lower than the others partly because he played fewer games.
Meanwhile, Darnold had zero turnovers and 5 TD passes in his three playoff games for Seattle this season.
Can Todd Monken and Shedeur Sanders revive the Browns offense? Cleveland BrownsWhat is the point?
Turnover stats can be a bit deceiving.
Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel had seven TD passes compared to only two interceptions. He also had only two turnovers.
But Gabriel attempted only eight passes of at least 20 yards, completing two. He was very conservative.
Shedeur Sanders completed 17 passes of at least 20 yards. Four of them went for at least 50 yards. Sanders also threw 10 interceptions and lost a fumble.
Pro Football Focus has a category called Big Time Throws. PFF credited Sanders with 10, compared to three for Gabriel.
They also have a category called Turnover Worthy Plays: Sanders had 15, compared to 10 for Gabriel.
On the season, Sanders (like Gabriel) had seven TD passes. Sanders had 10 interceptions.
I wonder how new Browns coach Todd Monken will evaluate both rookies.
How does Darnold enter into this discussion?
Will Monken want to bring in a veteran such as Malik Willis, Marcus Mariota or perhaps trade for Mac Jones in an attempt to find the next Darold or even Baker Mayfield? That has to be tempting, adding a former first-round pick who struggled and then became a viable QB with the right team in the right system.
That is something I’d pursue, along with keeping Sanders and Gabriel.