The 5 Worst Takes of the Vikings 2024 Season
The Minnesota Vikings, with a 14-2 record, will undertake postseason adventures in one or two weeks.
The 5 Worst Takes of the Vikings 2024 Season
The next chapter determines if Minnesota enters the dance as a Wildcard team or division champion. The Vikings can clinch homefield advantage throughout the postseason if it wins on Sunday night at the Detroit Lions.
And with the playoffs around the bend, we look back at some of the worst Vikings-themed takes of the season — bad opinions, recommendations, and rumors — ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = worst take).
5. Trading for Matthew Stafford
PFT’s Mike Florio explained during the Vikings’ bye week that Minnesota should trade for Matthew Stafford: “If, for example, the Jets provided a blueprint for making Sam Darnold look mortal, the Vikings would be wise (if they lose to the Lions and then to Stafford’s Rams) to at least entertain the possibility of an upgrade. (Coincidentally, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and Stafford worked together for a year in L.A. And they both won a Super Bowl ring for their efforts.)”
Florio mentioned an injury angle, too. “It’s more likely that the destination will be driven by injury. We’ve got four more weekends of football before the window closes. One season-ending injury is all it takes for Stafford to have a new home. And for the Rams to get a nice return,” he wrote. “In 2011, the Bengals and quarterback Carson Palmer were at impasse. Two days before the trade deadline, Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell suffered a broken collarbone. That sparked a Palmer trade to Oakland.”
Stafford was not for sale, and Minnesota wasn’t about to give up on Sam Darnold after two losses.
4. Signing Ryan Tannehill after One Bad Darnold Game
Florio also produced this badboy.
Darnold struggled against the Jaguars in the middle of the season, and Florio had seen enough. He tweeted during Jaguars-Vikings, “Is it crazy to wonder what Kevin O’Connell could do with Ryan Tannehill down the stretch? Because it really looks like the Sam Darnold chariot has turned back into a pumpkin.”
The Voice of the Vikings Paul Allen responded to Florio on X with a “no thanks” comment, and Florio replied, “Ceiling once again is divisional round.”
Tannehill never signed anywhere in the NFL this season, and Darnold quickly rebounded from a single bad game.
3. ESPN Calling the Vikings the Worst Team in the NFL
ESPN’s Seth Walder claimed Minnesota would end up with the 2025 draft’s first overall pick, a bittersweet prediction for a squad that lost its rookie quarterback in August.
“There was hope, back in the halcyon days of September, that quarterback Sam Darnold would finally figure it out after spending the 2023 season with Kyle Shanahan before playing in Kevin O’Connell’s scheme in 2024,” Walder wrote this week. “How naïve we were. Darnold did not, in fact, figure it out. The Minnesota Vikings’ offense crumbled while the rest of the league came up with adjustments to defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ relentless blitzes.”
The Vikings haven’t been awarded the draft’s first overall pick in 56 years.
“The result? A paltry four-win season,” Walder added. “But with the losing came hope in the form of the No. 1 overall pick. With their quarterback already in hand — J.J. McCarthy is the QB of the future here, despite his right meniscus tear — the Vikings enter the offseason in position to deal the No. 1 pick to a QB-needy team for a series of selections that will bolster the roster for an immediate turnaround. The present is bleak in Minnesota, but the future is bright.”
Not only are the Vikings not the worst team in the NFL, they might be the best team.
2. Sam Darnold Is a “Virus”
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith didn’t think Sam Darnold’s production was sustainable, likening Darnold to a “virus” in September.
“If you’re around some people with a cold enough, you’re going to get one. If you’re around some people with a virus, you’re going to get it. Contamination. You ever heard of that word? It happens,” Smith said four months ago about Darnold’s presence on the Vikings’ roster.
“When you’re around certain situations, ultimately, you become a byproduct of that. That’s what I am saying of Sam Darnold. I’m telling you, you’re very hopeful and I can appreciate that. But you’re sitting up there, talking to us like we’re supposed to expect the high level of production from this brother. I’m not doing that. I got to see it to believe it. That’s all I’m saying,” Smith continued.
Darnold has 36 total touchdowns at the moment, and his team is 14-2.
He’s the opposite of a virus.
1. Vikings Should Trade Kevin O’Connell to Bears
The Vikings should trade O’Connell to the Chicago Bears — that was the latest and greatest from ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler last month, a senior NFL writer for the sports media giant. Put plainly, she thought the Bears should inquire with the Vikings and trade for O’Connell.
Kahler tweeted in December, “This is going to sound crazy, but the Bears need to think crazy. They should trade for Kevin O’Connell. Caleb and KOC love each other. I don’t know if the Vikings would ever part with him, but Chicago should at least try. Added bonus: I believe his agent is Trace Armstrong.”
This is one of the worst takes in the history of Vikings-themed social media history. There is zero chance that Minnesota would hand their crown jewel to one of their top rivals. Or anybody.
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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