The Minnesota Vikings could afford to keep quarterback Sam Darnold for at least the 2025 season by securing his rights via the franchise tag.
However, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated is among those who believe Minnesota will let Darnold reach free agency next month and ask that he gives the club a chance to match the best offer he receives from a different team.
For a piece published Monday, Vikings reporter Kevin Seifert of ESPN touched upon whether or not the club will tag Darnold as 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy continues to recover from the full meniscus repair that cost him his rookie season.
"Using the tag on quarterback Sam Darnold would be an expensive way of ensuring his return while avoiding a longer-term commitment that would hinder J.J. McCarthy's eventual ascension," Seifert explained. "It could also be a way to elicit additional value by way of a trade, but that would require a knowledge that multiple teams would be willing to bid. In the end, the Vikings seem more likely to let Darnold sign elsewhere and preserve their tag for a player such as cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who had a career-high six interceptions in 2024 and is hitting his prime at age 27. If nothing else, it would give the Vikings time to sign Murphy to a longer-term deal while keeping him off the market."
Darnold became a revelation and a Comeback Player of the Year Award finalist playing under Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell. Per Pro Football Reference, Darnold ended the regular season ranked sixth in the NFL among qualified players with a 102.5 passer rating, fifth with 4,319 passing yards and fifth with 35 passing touchdowns.
However, Darnold let the 2024 Vikings down when they needed him the most. He passed for 166 yards with no touchdowns in the Week 18 31-9 defeat at the Detroit Lions that cost Minnesota the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, and he then connected on 25-of-40 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a fumble that was returned for a score in the 27-9 wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Vikings saving money by letting Darnold leave to start McCarthy could allow Minnesota to pursue a move for a proven playmaker such as Cleveland Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett.
O'Connell would be making quite a statement regarding his thoughts of McCarthy by trusting that the 22-year-old can be a playoff-caliber QB1 coming off his injury, but one wonders how those inside the Minnesota locker room would truly feel about the club parting ways with Darnold after he guided it to 14 wins.
