The Minnesota Vikings’ next offseason domino, after extending Kevin O’Connell’s contract and welcoming back defensive coordinator Brian Flores, is determining the QB1 plan for 2025.
Kevin O’Connell Might Have Spilled the Beans
Minnesota can ride with Sam Darnold, extending his stay this offseason and preventing him from testing free agency. It can also explore a franchise tag-and-trade with Darnold, hoping to nab a draft pick for his services while limiting his personal options and say in the matter. Or the Vikings can let Darnold leave in free agency and roll with J.J. McCarthy for the future.
But per a recent O’Connell quote, the young skipper might’ve already predicted the future: letting Darnold venture to free agency with no extension or franchise tag-and-trade.
“Look, you guys know how I feel about Sam. He is a guy that we identified last year as somebody who could come in and be successful. And really no matter where he was at before he arrived in his quarterback journey, it was about maximizing our time together,” O’Connell said about Darnold last week.
“And I think we did that, and I think it was a very special year for Sam. And what that earned him is, everybody in our league now thinks he’s a bona fide legitimate starting quarterback and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them.”
That was high praise for the 2024 QB1. But then O’Connell got to the chase: “So he’s earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation.”
O’Connell’s words — earning the right to be a free agent — is a cat-out-of-the-bag revelation. It’s as if he already knows the alternative to no contract extension is blunt-force free agency.
Before Darnold melted down in the season’s final two games last year, some believed the Vikings would franchise tag-and-trade him, perhaps netting a fancy 2nd-Round pick or something in the vicinity. His late-season faceplant did not improve the trade theories, and it might be a foregone conclusion that Darnold walks.
Nowhere at all in the Vikings’ orbit has anyone mentioned the notion of a franchise tag-and-trade. That whole theory might’ve been media- and fan-driven.
What’s more, if Darnold departs in free agency, that move will factor into the league’s complex compensatory draft pick formula. A comp pick for Darnold’s exit might be more valuable than a franchise tag-and-trade.
No matter what, the Vikings seem on the brink of handing the franchise to McCarthy — not Darnold — which was the plan all along when general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah drafted him 10 months ago.
It’s Official on Brian Flores
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.