If you think the Minnesota Vikings will happily allow Sam Darnold to embark on free agency next week while nominating J.J. McCarthy as the 2025 QB1, Rich Eisen has a theory that will blow your mind.
Vikings QB Plan Has a Surprising Twist
Most Vikings faithful expect exactly that to unfold in the next few weeks, but according to Eisen, Minnesota would prefer a multi-year extension for Darnold.
“The Vikings’ Plan A at quarterback, I heard at the combine from multiple people, is to sign Sam Darnold, and for more than one year. To make sure that Sam comes back for multiple seasons,” Eisen said on The Rich Eisen Show Monday.
NFL pundits don’t expect Darnold’s next contract to be cheap like his 2024 price tag of $10 million, so Minnesota re-signing him this offseason could slash its free-agent budget by up to 66%.
“That’s due to concern over my guy J.J. McCarthy coming off a knee injury, and they love Sam,” Eisen added.
Darnold led the Vikings in 2024 to a magnificent 14-3 record, slicing and dicing opposing defenses for 4,319 passing yards, 36 total touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He served as a fringe MVP candidate until Week 18, when Minnesota visited Ford Field for a winner-take-all contest with the Detroit Lions, where the victor would win the NFC North and secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
Regrettably, Darnold shrunk to a caricature of himself and then played worse one week later in the postseason against the Los Angeles Rams. Accordingly, the Vikings fired up a dreaded one-and-done playoff trip.
Thereafter, most Vikings loyalists decided it probably wouldn’t be wise to hand Darnold a humongous contract in 2025 and that McCarthy represented a more optimistic alternative for the future. After all, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah drafted him as the 10th overall pick in 2024.
The Eisen reporting, however, entirely dials back the McCarthy-as-QB1 theory, and if Eisen has it right, the 22-year-old would sit, wait, and watch on the bench indefinitely.
Creidble reporting also suggested Monday night that the Vikings wouldn’t apply the franchise tag on Darnold, meaning a trade isn’t on the horizon. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted, about 19 hours before the league’s franchise tag deadline: “Vikings QB Sam Darnold is unlikely to be franchise tagged ahead of Tuesday’s 4 pm ET deadline, per league sources. Minnesota still is interested in working to re-sign Darnold, but it is likely to be without any tag.”
So, if you’re keeping score at home, here’s the latest, per Eisen and Schefter: the Vikings won’t trade Darnold, they actually want to re-sign him for multiple years, and McCarthy could be slow-rolled into the QB1 assignment.
Folks will learn if Eisen’s musings are correct in six days when the NFL’s “legal tampering” phase of free agency gets underway.
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.