The Minnesota Vikings won 14 games during the regular season, and head coach Kevin O’Connell has been sure to note that fact when discussing Sam Darnold’s future with the organization.
O’Connell said Darnold has earned the right to be a free agent, but the Vikings left themselves an emergency option. The deadline to adjust the void date on Darnold’s contract has passed.
The Vikings agreed to adjustments with two other players, so Darnold’s situation stands out.
“Interestingly, they did NOT reach the same agreement with QB Sam Darnold, whose contract still voids 23 days before the start of the league year,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported on X on February 18. “If they don’t do a new deal with Darnold before the contract voids, then $5 million in remaining signing bonus proration would accelerate onto their 2025 salary cap as dead money for Sam Darnold. Upshot here: They still CAN franchise Darnold.”
The new league year is set to start on March 12, so that date was February 17. Darnold, who was on a one-year, $10 million deal with the Vikings, is due for a significant raise this offseason. According to Over The Cap, the franchise tag for quarterbacks in 2025 is $42.4 million.
OTC projects the Vikings will have $63.3 million to spend before making any other roster moves this offseason.
Spotrac projects Darnold’s annual value at $40.1 million.
Spotrac also suggested a four-year, $160.5 million pact as an example of what Darnold might get on his next deal. That would rank him as the 15th in annual and total value among quarterbacks in 2025.
The Vikings have until March 4 to apply the franchise tag to Darnold. That decision would limit the QB’s options and leave him without long-term security.
Cris Carter: Vikings Shoul Tag Sam Darnold, Hold QB Battle With J.J. McCarthy
GettyJ.J. McCarthy #9 and Sam Darnold #14 of the Minnesota Vikings during training camp.
Vikings legend Jared Allen doubted Darnold’s ability to lead a team to the Super Bowl, and he cautioned the team about committing the resources it might take to retain the QB. Allen’s fellow Hall of Famer Cris Carter suggested that the Vikings use the franchise tag.
Carter also believes Darnold should have to outdo 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy in a training camp battle.
“I think they should keep both quarterbacks. When you have quarterbacks that play well in your system the way Sam Darnold did, I would not let him go in free agency. I would franchise him, pay him $41 million, and then let him and J.J. have a competition come the fall,” Carter told Kay Adams on “Up & Adams” on February 20.
“I think, last summer, J.J. might have been ahead of him when he got hurt. But Sam – and what KO does there as a coach with the quarterbacks, man, it’s just phenomenal. It is incredible what he was able to get of Sam Darnold.”
“We thought we knew Sam Darnold. But I – 99% of all the players that play in the National Football League, we’re all system players. And if we don’t have the right system to highlight our abilities, we will look like average or bad players,” Carter said.
“That’s what Sam Darnold getting matched up, Baker Mayfield getting matched up with someone in his ear [does]. Someone who sees the same thing and puts him in a system that he can thrive. So it happens all the time. It happened in Minnesota. Franchise him. Because having a quarterback like Sam and the year he had, he will always be a commodity you eventually would be able to trade.”
The Vikings could opt for the $36.2 million transition tag. That would allow the Vikings the right to match another team’s offer to Darnold.
However, they would not receive compensation if they chose not to match such an offer.
Sam Darnold Reclamation Not Yet Complete
GettyMinnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell interacts with Sam Darnold #14 before a game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Darnold, 27, set career highs passing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns on 66.2% completion in 2024. His 2.2 interception rate for his 12 picks tied the second-lowest rate of his career.
“Darnold’s career resurgence in Minnesota was one of the biggest storylines of the 2024 season,” ESPN’s Benjamin Solak wrote on February 20. “He still needs to be productive in 2025 and will likely have to do so outside of Minnesota. He’s the most recent and most stark example of a quarterback who looked inept the last time he was a long-term starter (2021 Jets) then looked renewed in his new home (2024 Vikings) a few years later.”
As for the next QB to turn that proverbial corner, Solak again tabbed Darnold.
In Solak’s estimation, Darnold’s plight is two-fold. He might have to join a new team and learn a new system. Darnold also set the bar high with his historic 2024 campaign with the Vikings.
“If he signs a big, multiyear contract with a team in need of a savior (I’m looking at the Raiders or Steelers), he’ll lose the long, generous leash afforded to many of the successful reclamations,” Solak wrote. “Perhaps he has already reached escape velocity or at least gotten close enough to it that he’ll break the pull of mediocrity’s gravity at his next stop.”
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