The Minnesota Vikings lost in the 1st Round of the postseason on Monday night, ending a 14-win season with a total whimper.
Vikings Must Turn the Page on One Painful Habit
While the team has a positive outlook for the future, mainly because of cap space galore and a rookie quarterback in the holster, it must end one longstanding tendency — using retread quarterbacks and hoping for the best.
Of course, current QB1 Sam Darnold played wonderfully in 2024 for about 16 games. The man delivered 36 total touchdowns to 12 interceptions, along with 4,319 passing yards. Darnold, on the whole, did not struggle during his first year with the Vikings.
However, with the lights brightest, Darnold utterly crumbled in the season’s final two games, with trips to the Divisional Round of the playoffs on the line. He threw the ball off-target, above pass-catchers’ heads, and perhaps his most fatal flaw — holding the pigskin too long in the pocket.
There’s always something wrong with the reclamation-story Vikings quarterback when the dust settles.
Thankfully, Minnesota can fix this decades-long problem in a hurry. J.J. McCarthy is in the house to take the reins of QB1 as early as this spring. The Vikings should not, beyond any stretch of the imagination, re-up with Darnold or sign some other reclamation quarterback to challenge McCarthy’s ascension. QB2s are great for depth, rest assured. But extending Daniel Jones, for example, or signing a free agent like Russell Wilson or Justin Fields will accomplish nothing.
Give the franchise to McCarthy, and sink or swim. Since the end of Tommy Kramer 35 years ago, aside from a 5.5-year ride with Daunte Culpepper in the early 2000s, Minnesota has too often settled on a journeyman backup to serve as the QB1 solution. Few exceptions exist, outside of Christian Ponder and Teddy Bridgewater, who didn’t pan out.
Instead, the Vikings invest in emotionally charged seasons with Randall Cunningham, Jeff George, Brett Favre, Case Keenum, Kirk Cousins, and now Darnold, to name a few.
This is not working. It, flat out, has not worked. Not one iota.
In fact, every exciting year is the same. Minnesota even flirted with Joshua Dobbs for a few games in 2023 when Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles. It might’ve even been better that Dobbs flamed out after two games and saved fans the agony of a playoff disappointment.
Vikings football has not translated to Super Bowls — or even appearances in February — by starting some other team’s organically drafted quarterback. They all fizzle before the Promised Land.
Folks will soon determine if McCarthy is the long-sought-after remedy. But no matter what, he must get the chance to succeed without some has-been breathing down his neck.
Reclamation projects and has-beens have ultimately failed in the Twin Cities. It’s not going to be different next time.
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.