With less than three weeks until NFL free agency, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in amid one of the strangest quarterback situations in recent memory.
Sam Darnold was awesome last season, except when it mattered most. Even still, he’s got a big contract coming to him in one way or another. J.J. McCarthy retains all the value he had ahead of the 2024 draft, and potentially even more trade value now, despite an August knee injury that robbed him of his entire rookie season.
If Minnesota keeps both players, the team won’t need to make a move under center next month. If the team hangs onto Darnold and trades McCarthy, it will need a backup, but a wider range of players in free agency or the draft will suffice.
However, if the Vikings let Darnold walk — or use the franchise tag to keep him tethered to the roster before hunting a trade — what they do at quarterback in the coming months will matter a great deal. McCarthy has never played a regular-season snap in the league, and the Vikings are ready now coming off of a 14-win campaign.
Two players involved in rumors swirling around Minnesota are Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Rodgers, who is on his way out of the New York Jets organization. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported on Saturday, February 22, that a blockbuster trade may be brewing between the Rams and the New York Giants that could take both QBs off the board for the Vikings.
“One experienced G.M. has a prediction as to how the Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers companion mysteries will be resolved,” Florio wrote. “Step one, Stafford gets traded to the Giants. Step two, Rodgers signs with the Rams.”
Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers Could Both Work in Minnesota on Short-Term Deal
GettyQuarterback Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams talks with quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets during an NFL game.
In the majority of scenarios, those developments wouldn’t mean all that much for Minnesota. However, if Darnold and Daniel Jones are playing elsewhere come training camp, it could matter a good deal.
Either Stafford or Rodgers, both Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, would be of significant value to the Vikings as a starter for one title run in 2025 and a mentor to McCarthy along the path. If Minnesota feels McCarthy is ready to get on the field, the franchise may look to a less threatening option — perhaps a Joe Flacco type.
But the Vikings will be playing with fire no matter what they do this offseason: bet big on Darnold, bet big on McCarthy and/or bring in a potentially pricey veteran on a short-term contract.
Sam Darnold Key Domino for Vikings’ Offseason
GettyQuarterback Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings.
The safest path forward for the Vikings is to franchise tag Darnold and then shop him.
Darnold could prove a meaningful trade asset at just 27 years old and coming off the best season of his career, though he isn’t likely to draw the same type of return as McCarthy.
If Minnesota can get a couple of mid-rounders back for Darnold, or perhaps a solid Day 2 pick in the late second or early third round, then it can pull the trigger on a deal. If not, the Vikings have nearly $60 million in salary cap space and could absorb Darnold on an approximately $40 million tag and simply run it back — kicking the can on a long-term decision on either Darnold or McCarthy down the road another year.
