The Minnesota Vikings are on the cusp of a decision at quarterback that will define the franchise for the remainder of the decade, but one insider believes the call is simple.
Mina Kimes of ESPN asserted on Wednesday, February 19, that Minnesota should let quarterback Sam Darnold leave in free agency and spend its money instead on an interior offensive lineman to protect second-year signal caller J.J. McCarthy moving forward. Her suggestion was guard Trey Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs, a two-time Super Bowl champion and 2024 Pro Bowler.
“[Darnold] is gonna cost way more than Trey Smith, which is hilarious because one player is obviously near the top of the position, one is not,” Kimes said. “I’m pretty sure if I’m the Vikings, I’d rather pay Trey Smith.”
Trey Smith Potentially Better Bargain Than Sam Darnold
GettyOffensive guard Trey Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kimes added that Smith is likely going to set the market at the position and earn north of $20 million annually ($100 million total), on what would have to be a five-year contract. The former sixth-round pick out of Tennessee has made just under $6.6 million in his career to this point and is in line for a significant pay bump.
While paying Smith would be a major investment in Minnesota, doing so would cost potentially just 50% annually of what Darnold might command as a free agent. Spotrac projects the QB’s market value at $160 million over a new four-year agreement.
The Vikings have enough cap space in 2025 — currently projected at $59.5 million and likely to jump massively when the NFL officially increases its salary cap by $22-$26 million for each team in the coming weeks — to do pretty much whatever they want.
The rub is that letting Darnold go could bite them after he led the team to 14 wins on the strength of 4,300 passing yards and 35 TDs, while McCarthy missed the entirety of his rookie season because of a knee injury he suffered last August.
But going with McCarthy, who is on a relatively inexpensive rookie contract over the next three or four years, will allow Minnesota to spend its massive amount of cap space and limited draft resources on building around him.
Vikings Must Consider QB, O-Line & Secondary in Offseason
GettyMinnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
The interior of the offensive line in Minnesota was a problem last season, while a handful of free agents in the secondary could also cause the Vikings concern in 2025.
Minnesota could sign Smith to a big deal and potentially keep Darnold via the franchise tag, though that would mean a roughly $40 million tab for the quarterback next season. However, it would also allow the Vikings to shop Darnold via a trade and eventually move off that money, while bringing back a couple more decent picks to bolster what is a relatively bare cupboard of draft assets.
But one can make the argument that using the tag to keep a player like cornerback Byron Murhpy Jr. is actually a better use of the one-time tool after he put up a career year in 2024.
Whatever the Vikings do at quarterback, they need to keep the quality of play there near the level it was with Darnold under center for most of last season, while also piecing together a reasonable secondary and adding talent to the middle of the offensive line.
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