Jan 7, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick talks to reporters after the game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images.
Are you ready for the ginormous Minnesota Vikings debate? It’s coming.
Within the next few months, Vikings fans will vigorously debate quarterback Sam Darnold’s future with the purple team as the reclamation passer is employed in the Twin Cities on a one-year, $10 million deal. He’s scheduled to hit open free agency in March.
And according to Bill Belichick, the winner of six Super Bowls as the head coach of the New England Patriots, bringing Darnold back in 2025 and beyond is a no-brainer if Minnesota succeeds in the postseason.
Of course, the Vikings will have to reach the NFC Championship or Super Bowl first, but if so, Belichick sees no other alternative but to re-sign Darnold.
“Well, I think it would definitely change things if that were to happen. That’s what happened with Tom Brady. That’s what happened with Kurt Warner and Trent Green. When your quarterback takes you to a Super Bowl championship, what else do you want him to do?” the future Hall of Fame coach said on The Pat McAfee Show.
The Vikings are 4-0 entering Week 5 and own the NFL’s eighth-best Super Bowl odds (+1600) as of October 3rd, nestled between the Philadelphia Eagles (+1400) and New York Jets (+2200). Minnesota’s defense ranks first in the NFL per DVOA and EPA/Play through four games, Darnold is the NFL’s third-best passer per EPA+CPOE, and the ground game is cooking for the first time since 2021.
All signs point to the postseason for Minnesota, and the next several weeks will determine if it’s a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Re-signing Darnold is a complicated topic because if he drags Minnesota deep into the postseason, he’ll probably earn a contract worth $40-50 million per season. The Vikings, meanwhile, have rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy waiting in the wings to take over at QB1, though he’s on injured reserve right now with a torn meniscus. That’s the debate: if Darnold effectuates an honest-to-goodness playoff push, will Minnesota re-sign him for forty million bucks or let it ride with McCarthy, whom they utterly love?
Last week, Belichick made it sound like everyone knew Darnold was a good football player — except the New York Jets, the franchise that drafted him third overall in 2018. “I’ll say this — everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick opined.
Belichick added, “The people in Carolina I talked to, they really liked him. … I know that Kevin O’Connell and some of the coaches in Minnesota, they really like this guy, too.”
And if the decision were up to him, he’d roll with Darnold if he took the Vikings deep into the postseason tournament.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.