Sam Darnold DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

ESPN's Kevin Seifert reports that the Minnesota Vikings are in no rush to place the franchise tag on impending free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold despite his career year in 2024. It doesn't mean they won't eventually use it on the 27-year-old signal-caller, and it doesn't rule out the team giving him a multi-year extension. Another option is that the Vikings tag Darnold and then trade him for draft-pick compensation. Keeping Darnold on the tag in 2025 would cost Minnesota around $40 million, which would be a questionable decision with former first-rounder J.J. McCarthy (knee) waiting in the wings as the franchise QB. Seifert believes the most likely scenario is that the team lets Darnold sign elsewhere while saving the tag for a player like cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who had a career-high six interceptions in 2024. Darnold set career-highs last year across the board but also had just one TD and a 53% completion percentage in the last two games.

In Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's Coach of the Year news conference, he said, "Our goal is to win a championship and Sam Darnold is going to be a huge part of it when we do it," When asked to clarify, O'Connell said that Darnold has "earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation." O'Connell went back on his comments a bit and said his previous comments about Darnold were made "in the spirit of answering a question about Darnold's season." Darnold had a career season in 2024, but his struggles in the final two games might make the Vikings more apt to give first-rounder J.J. McCarthy a shot in 2025 and let another team spend on Darnold. The Vikings also have former Giants QB Daniel Jones as an insurance policy in case they let Darnold walk in free agency.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler writes that the Minnesota Vikings haven't made a firm determination on impending free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold's future with the organization. Darnold exceeded all expectations in 2024, and bringing him back is a stronger possibility that it was five or six months ago. However, the Vikings have a cap on what they'll spend on the QB position, especially after he struggled to close out the year. Some agents think Darnold shouldn't take a penny less than Daniel Jones' four-year, $160 million deal with the New York Giants two years ago. He could get something similar to Baker Mayfield's three-year, $100 million deal, or the Vikes could slap the $35.3 million transition tag on him. Darnold threw for 4,319 yards, 35 TDs and 12 interceptions in 17 games, but his struggles in the final two games will ultimately cost him a lot of money on the open market. Whether the Vikings keep him will depend on how confident they are in J.J. McCarthy and Jones.