Vikings and Darnold Top of Mind at NFL Combine
It’s Combine week, and as was the case last year with Kirk Cousins, the Vikings quarterback situation is among the hottest topics in Indianapolis.
Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Coach Kevin O’Connell said in their Combine press conference this week that all options are on the table for QB Sam Darnold. That includes re-signing him, putting the $41 million franchise or $35 million transition tag on him, trading or releasing him after tagging, or letting him hit the open market.
Vikings and Darnold Top of Mind at NFL Combine
With so many key free agents to address besides Darnold, would the Vikings tie up so much cap room by tagging the 27-year Darnold? It’s possible from the standpoint that the tag deadline is March 4, one week before the start of free agency, so they could put the franchise tag on Darnold with the intent of trading him or pulling the tag by March 10, when free agency opens. They could see if there is a team that would give them a third-round pick this year instead of waiting for a possible 2026 compensatory third-rounder if Darnold were to leave in free agency.
I stand by my belief that the Vikings want to bring Darnold back at a slight raise over the $10 million they paid him in 2024 when he had a career-best season with 14 wins before his late-season flops against the Lions and Rams. They’d like to structure a deal with significant incentives based on playing over 50% of the offensive snaps and the team winning playoff games. That way, the incentives would not likely be earned for this year’s salary cap since he didn’t win any playoff games last season.
If Darnold balks at such a deal, I think Adofo-Mensah will offer it to Daniel Jones, who may be more likely to accept it as Darnold will probably be the NFL’s most in-demand QB if he hits the open market. Based on his overall play last season, Darnold should be more attractive to QB-needy teams than Jones. The lackluster 2025 QB draft class, other than Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, also helps Darnold and Jones’s potential free-agent cause.
The good news out of the Vikings’ leaders’ Combine presser is that J.J. McCarthy is on track to return from his 2024 knee meniscus surgeries when the offseason program opens in April. “The number one priority was getting him healthy, which we feel great about now,” O’Connell said.
McCarthy has resumed on-field and strength training, so his weight is approaching the 218 pounds he was at pre-draft last year. As I read between the lines, I think the Vikings want their 22-year-old QB, who they invested in as the 10th overall pick last year, to take the reins in 2025 as the team benefits from a QB under a cap-friendly rookie contract. And the organization has faith in O’Connell to develop McCarthy to an even higher level than the great work the coach did with Darnold and Cousins.
If they keep the cost down on their vet QB, then they can attack free agency, starting with re-signing Pro Bowl corner Byron Murphy and starting back Aaron Jones and trying to sign one of the best available offensive guards and possibly centers along with a free agent corner who is younger than Gilmore and Griffin.
Gaining an extra mid-round pick for Darnold—if he’s tagged—also would help fill holes on the interior offensive line and in the secondary, especially at corner if the Vikings lose one or more from the group of Murphy, Stephon Gilmore, and Shaq Griffin who are all pending free agents.
Other Combine Thoughts
It’s interesting that the most critical activities for GMs and other team execs are not the workouts and on-field testing the public sees in about 20 hours of TV coverage.
As Vikings GM and Titans president, I took many trips to Indianapolis for Combine week. I was focused on behind-the-scenes conversations/negotiations with agents as we headed toward free agency. The other key elements of the Combine for me—also not visible to the public–were player interviews in the evenings and seeing the results of player physicals that are such a key part of the Combine.
I certainly would watch the on-field workouts, but I was less concerned with this area as we could view the tape of these activities after the Combine and the players would repeat the same drills at their March Pro Days if they were among the players we brought to our facility for April visits.
I always told our staff we needed to understand that a player’s on-field play in games was much more important in the evaluation process than their on-field testing at the Combine and Pro Day, and the physicals and player interviews were the most essential elements of the Combine. It was almost always a mistake to fall in love with workout warriors. Even the intelligence test players take this week is just one piece of a huge evaluation puzzle since many players who do not score well on the test have the football smarts to succeed in the NFL.
We hear early in the week which highly ranked players won’t work out at the Combine (including highly touted QB Shedeur Sanders this week). Even though it has become commonplace for the top players, it remains somewhat irritating for the team execs, coaches, and scouts in attendance.
Unless a player is recovering from an injury, most top-rated players and their agents prefer to wait until Pro Days to do the drills and run the 40-yard dash. I believe a player– regardless of how high they’re ranked– should take as many opportunities as possible to work out for teams since the weather could be lousy or they could be sick for their Pro Day,
I enjoyed the Combine because of the opportunity to talk with my peers, league office executives, and media people while walking around Indianapolis or sitting in their seats during workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium. I enjoyed visiting with other team execs at the Combine and league meetings more than the more tense gamedays when we would have a quick pregame chat. And a highlight always was my annual dinner at St. Elmo and eating their famous spicy shrimp cocktail!
So, as you watch the players during the Combine telecasts, you should understand that teams do indeed want to know a player’s speed and agility, how high they can jump, and how strong they are with their number of bench press reps. But also know the physicals and interviews are the most important things for GMs this week, along with the under-the-radar extensive contract discussions with free agency just around the corner.
Also know the entire draft process is an inexact science. I always told our scouts and coaches that Cris Carter ran in the 4.5-4.6 range, but he had terrific hands and was one of the league’s best route runners, and he wound up in the Hall of Fame. And I love the story of Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle, who I signed for $5,000 as an undrafted player in 1990 when most teams thought he was too small to play in the NFL.
A Vikings Dream Will Finally Come True
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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