Vikings Rumors Put Spotlight on Philip Rivers Theory, Sam Darnold, Spencer Rattler
It’s time for the second batch of Minnesota Vikings-themed rumors of Week 15, as the team travels to Dallas for a date with the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
This week’s chatter revolves around Minnesota’s future quarterback depth, with Sam Darnold and Spencer Rattler emerging as realistic 2026 possibilities and an old Philip Rivers contingency resurfacing only as historical footnote.
Sunday’s rumors, oddly enough, are quarterback-themed — past and present.
Why Darnold and Rattler Matter for Minnesota’s 2026 Quarterback Picture
The Week 15 Purple Rumor Mill winds down.
Rumor: Philip Rivers may have reached out to the Vikings in 2023 when Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles.
On October 29, 2023, Cousins tore his Achilles — a single injury that ended his season, closed the book on his Vikings career, and detonated his long-term projection as an NFL starter. Minnesota had to scramble immediately because QB2 Nick Mullens wasn’t healthy, either.
A day later, while sorting through every imaginable contingency, O’Connell dropped a memorable line to reporters: “You wouldn’t believe some of the things on my cellphone I’ve received here in the last 24 hours.”
For O’Connell to fire off something that dramatic, the texts had to be truly wild — the type of “are we really doing this?” suggestions that fit a then-42-year-old Philip Rivers more than a garden-variety stopgap.
A message about a 30-year-old free agent or a Dobbs trade (which eventually happened) wouldn’t qualify as unbelievable. Those are sensible. O’Connell wouldn’t feel the need to dramatize them.
But now that Rivers has admitted he flirted with a comeback, the dots start connecting. He might have been the mystery option Minnesota explored when Cousins went down.
That brings us to O’Connell’s quip this week.
Asked about Rivers resurfacing, O’Connell said, “Not surprised at all. I know for a fact he’s got a full-scale practice field at his house, and he’s got enough folks in his family to form a team if he needs to.”
The phrase not surprised at all feels telling. It suggests O’Connell either a) knew Rivers had the itch to return, even at that age, or b) simply trusted Rivers’ personality — the type of guy who’d jump at one last chance to spin it.
There’s a real possibility one of those 10/30/2023 text messages involved Rivers — maybe even came from him. The two know each other, and O’Connell seems to have everyone’s number.
Rumor: Sam Darnold could be cut by the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason.
This one sits firmly in the odd category. ESPN’s Dan Graziano put together an entire piece on potential 2026 roster cuts and trade scenarios, and somehow Sam Darnold ended up in the crosshairs.
On Darnold, Graziano wrote, “Darnold signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks in free agency this year. He is under contract for a very reasonable $28 million in 2026 and $45.7 million in 2027. But as is the Seahawks’ policy with veteran contracts, none of the money beyond the first year was guaranteed at signing.”
“If Darnold is still on the Seahawks’ roster five days after the Super Bowl (so, Feb. 13), then $17.5 million of his 2026 compensation becomes fully guaranteed. But if they were to cut him before that, they wouldn’t owe even one more penny and would be on the hook for just $25.6 million in dead money.”
Translation: Seattle quietly built itself an escape hatch.
Graziano followed up with this: “Now, the Seahawks are one of the best teams in the league, and Darnold is a big part of the reason why. He’s ninth in QBR at 64.3 and completing 68.3% of his throws. Odds are the Seahawks keep him for 2026. But they build these contracts this way on purpose — to give themselves maximum flexibility.”
“If the Seahawks decide Darnold isn’t their guy — or if they find someone else they think is an upgrade — they would be in position to pivot without very much financial pain.”
For any of this to materialize, Darnold would probably need to implode in the postseason, and that’s not far-fetched. Minnesota saw the worst version of him last year: when the season hung in the balance, he folded.
Rumor: Spencer Rattler, along with Tanner McKee, is a QB2 option for Minnesota in 2026
Taking a gander at the Vikings’ 2026 quarterback landscape, The Ringer’s Diante Lee laid out the financial nightmare attached to chasing a veteran passer.
He noted, “If they wanted to trade for (and then pay) a starting-caliber veteran quarterback, here’s a list of current players who would likely need to be cut, be traded, or take a significant pay cut: tackle Brian O’Neill, edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, tight end T.J. Hockenson, running back Aaron Jones, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, and center Ryan Kelly.”
Lee didn’t stop there, pointing out the roster carnage such a move would create: “In one offseason, a roster that currently has quality depth on both sides of the ball would likely become one of the league’s worst, and the Vikings might still be too cash-strapped to afford a high-end starter. That means Tanner McKee, Mac Jones, or Spencer Rattler might be the most realistic options to compete with McCarthy in 2026.”
Jones has been hovering around the 2026 quarterback discussion for months, but seeing McKee and Rattler join the mix only adds to the growing sense that the Vikings’ next QB competition may look far different — and far less exciting — than fans hoped.
In short, nobody wants McKee or Rattler as a Vikings QB1 solution next season.
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