Sam Darnold has been a revelation for the Minnesota Vikings this year, delivering MVP-caliber play and helping this team become Super Bowl contenders. He stepped up in the wake of the season-ending injury to J.J. McCarthy and his performance has raised questions regarding who will be the Vikings quarterback in 2025.
Complicating matters is Darnold’s contract. Minnesota only signed him to a one-year contract, viewing him as a bridge quarterback until its first-round rookie was ready to take over. Fast forward to December, Darnold is leading one of the best NFL offenses in 2024 and putting the Vikings’ front office in a difficult spot.
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- Sam Darnold stats (ESPN): 3,299 passing yards, 28-10 TD-INT, 108.1 QB rating, 68.4% completion rate, 8.5 yards per attempt, 194 rushing yards, 1 touchdown
Many have recently argued for Minnesota to either re-sign Darnold or place the franchise tag on him. Even presuming McCarthy is ready for the start of the 2025 NFL season, retaining Darnold would give head coach Kevin O’Connell a proven starter if McCarthy struggles or suffers a setback.
However, that would come with a staggering financial cost. OvertheCap.com projects the franchise tag value for quarterbacks in 2025 to be $41.304 million. That’s fully guaranteed, wiping nearly $42 million of financial flexibility in an offseason where the Vikings cap space is projected at $76.467 million. It’s a hefty price to potentially pay for a backup quarterback, especially considering how high the organization is on McCarthy.
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Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote about the current situation, speaking with NFL executives about Darnold’s play and his potential value in free agency next offseason. Regarding the decision Minnesota faces, one NFL executive touched on why it’s still likely that McCarthy will be the Vikings starting quarterback in 2025.
“McCarthy is their guy. The talking heads think they are crazy to let Darold go, but they don’t have the same convictions on McCarthy as the Vikings do.”
Anonymous NFL executive on the Minnesota Vikings quarterback situation and J.J. McCarthy
Before he suffered a season-ending torn meniscus in his first preseason game, the reports out of Vikings training camp on McCarthy were glowing. While the 21-year-old quarterback still trailed Darnold in the starting quarterback competition, there was growing optimism he’d win the battle before long.
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Missing the entire 2024 NFL season certainly didn’t help McCarthy, but it did give him a year to watch Darnold from the sideline and see the work that goes into being a starting quarterback for a contender each week. He also got to spend the year digesting O’Connell’s offense and he could still work through mental reps, study film and learn the finer points of the game.
In a perfect world, the Vikings would certainly love to keep Darnold in 2025. However, the number of quarterback-needy teams willing to offer him a multi-year contract worth $40-plus million annually might prove to be out of Minnesota’s price range. Given the organization’s confidence in McCarthy, it remains likely that Darnold will be on another roster next season.