ESPN Formally Predicts Sam Darnold’s Next Team
If the Minnesota Vikings don’t extend Sam Darnold in the next 11 days or apply the franchise tag and trade him, the 27-year-old will be free to sign anywhere in the NFL via free agency.
ESPN Formally Predicts Sam Darnold’s Next Team
According to ESPN, Darnold will evidently walk and ultimately end up with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
ESPN’s Benjamin Solak sized up landing spots for the NFL’s quarterback carousel this week, and for the Darnold, the Steelers won the sweepstakes.
“Keeping Fields is a possibility, but if the Steelers really liked him, why did they continue to play Russell Wilson over him? And though I have some healthy skepticism of how Darnold will fare without Kevin O’Connell and Justin Jefferson, he’s arguably the best free agent quarterback available,” Solak wrote.
Darnold begot a season worthy of backdoor MVP consideration in 2024, recording 4,319 passing yards, 36 total touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The Vikings were straight cruising with Darnold in charge, boasting a 14-2 record through 16 games. He collapsed, though, losing in the Wildcard Round to the Los Angeles Rams. Most Vikings fans decided J.J. McCarthy would be a smarter solution for the future, hoping to implement a quarterback who might not capitulate when it mattered the most.
Solak added about Pittsburgh as Darnold’s next home, “The Steelers land him because they have the most to offer — a potentially very good defense, winning history under Mike Tomlin and the lack of a top pick (making them less likely to take a first-round rookie).”
The Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants, and New York Jets are other squads in Darnold’s rumor mill. The Raiders can be classified as the frontrunner to fetch his services.
Why don’t the Vikings want a quarterback who tallied 36 touchdowns in a single season back for the long haul? Well, he faceplanted with everything on the line, for starters. Too, his market value entering free agency is reportedly around $40 million per year. Minnesota does not have that cash lying around for an insurance policy quarterback. And the aforementioned McCarthy seems ready to take the QB1 job — it’s why the Vikings drafted him in Round 1 last April.
Solak named McCarthy the Vikings’ probable starter in 2025, a prediction commonly shared by most fans. He also forecasted that former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins would join the Cleveland Browns.
Darnold will turn 28 this summer.
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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 MIN 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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