Daniel Jones’ Price Tag Takes Shape
If Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold leaves the franchise in free agency — it’s looking more and more like the probable outcome — they’ll need a QB2 in 2025 behind J.J. McCarthy, the odds-on favorite to win the QB1 job.
Daniel Jones’ Price Tag Takes Shape
And almost naturally, that QB2 could be Daniel Jones, a cast-off from the New York Giants’ roster. Jones became a Viking down the stretch of the 2024 regular season, hitting the practice squad when he divorced the Giants for good.
And thanks to Spotrac, Jones’ price tag as a free agent has taken shape. His next team will likely pay him $13.3 million, perhaps on a one-year “prove it” or “bridge quarterback” deal. It’s not unlike Darnold in 2024, who signed with the Vikings for $10 million.
Jones ranked 26th of 36 qualifying quarterbacks per EPA+CPOE this season, so he will hope for a QB1 shot somewhere in 2025 to boost that standing closer to the middle of the NFL.
Last week, Jones was linked to the Las Vegas Raiders’ free-agent plans, possibly on deck to replace Gardner Minshew, also a free agent. Former NFLer Mark Sanchez, who knows a thing or two about the quarterback position, named the Raiders a landing spot for Daniel Jones.
“Do not sleep on Daniel Jones. Wherever that guy goes, if he lands in the right spot, that would be one of the best places for him, with that head coach. He has all the ability in the world. That kid would be dialed there. I love that possibility,” Sanchez said last week on The Herd about Jones ending up with the Raiders.
Las Vegas owns the draft’s sixth overall pick in April, which is a bit like quarterback purgatory during this cycle. Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders will likely be off the board by pick No. 6, and the Raiders, for example, “reaching” for Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart, or Quinn Ewers might be silly.
Otherwise, most Vikings fans believe Jones would make sense as a QB2 in Minnesota, as the aforementioned McCarthy is recovering from a meniscus tear that sidelined him for all of 2024.
Minnesota also has Nick Mullens scheduled to hit free agency, and if Jones left Minnesota, along with Darnold to a new team, Mullens could return for QB2 duties.
The Vikings re-signed quarterback Brett Rypien at the start of the offseason, a passer who could vie for the QB3 spot.
NFL free agency is 25 days away.
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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.
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