Vikings Quietly Drop Another Offseason Hint
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is eligible for the franchise tag this offseason, a maneuver general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could use to re-sign the quarterback for a year or trade him to the highest bidder.
Vikings Quietly Drop Another Offseason Hint
Darnold played wonderfully in the season’s first 16 games but flopped in the Vikings’ final two of 2024, driving down his trade value. Before a Week 18 collapse and stinker in the playoffs, some believed Minnesota could fetch a 2nd-Round draft pick or so for Darnold’s services. Now, a mid-rounder feels more likely — if Adofo-Mensah used the tag-and-trade option at all.
Meanwhile, the Vikings had a deadline this week to postpone Darnold’s $5 million void money hit. They did nothing. Instead, Adofo-Mensah extended the same deadline for cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. and running back Aaron Jones. Darnold received no such treatment, an indicator that the 27-year-old will hit the open market in three weeks.
Pro Football Focus‘ Bradley Locker weighed in on the topic this week: “ESPN’s Dan Graziano shared that Minnesota did not move Darnold’s void date, meaning he still can be franchise-tagged. Yet, there hasn’t been much traction regarding that idea. After posting a 77.5 PFF passing grade and a 5.4% big-time throw rate in 2024 en route to a 14-3 regular-season record, Darnold will likely make at least $40 million on his new deal.”
“But given that the Vikings apparently don’t want to give Darnold the $42 million tag, they presumably won’t try to re-sign their best-case bridge starter.”
Think of it this way: if Minnesota wanted Darnold back in 2025, it would’ve moved the void deadline, as it did for Murphy Jr. and Jones, or at the very least, folks would hear more steam about the club applying the franchise tag.
Neither have occurred.
Right before the Super Bowl a week and a half ago, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell basically told the world his franchise’s plans. “To be sitting here today, Sam Darnold, 14 wins later, his best season of his career by far. He deserves all the credit for that. We had belief in him and he earned it with his teammates on a daily basis. But then also to have J.J. McCarthy now healthy, gonna have a full offseason, I think it’s going to be really exciting. We’ll see how the free agency process works out for Sam,” O’Connell said on February 7th.
The tea leaves are beginning to become apparent. Darnold will probably hit free agency, and the Vikings will hand the QB1 baton to J.J. McCarthy, who the club drafted in Round 1 10 months ago.
Otherwise, Minnesota would’ve worked with Darnold to push his void money deadline back along with Murphy Jr. and Jones.
Darnold will turn 28 this summer.
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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