Sam Darnold #14 of the Minnesota Vikings looks on after facing the Indianapolis Colts.
Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings have something going. They are 11-2 with a chance to win the NFC North this season if they win out. They can even earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC in the playoffs. That would mean a bye week to recuperate.
When the season ends, though, there are questions that must be answered.
Chief among them is Darnold’s future with the Vikings and if he even has one. It has seemed like a foregone conclusion that he does not, but ESPN’s Kevin Seifert says otherwise.
“Darnold has played well enough to leave the Vikings more open-minded about their 2025 plans than many realize, according to sources familiar with the Vikings’ thinking. They have not ruled out offering him a contract for next season, despite widespread assumptions they will let him sign elsewhere in free agency and hand the job to [J.J.] McCarthy, who has spent his rookie season recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee,” Seifert wrote on December 16.
“Whether Darnold receives a more lucrative offer elsewhere remains to be determined, as quarterback-needy teams are just beginning the process of assessing his season. But he raised eyebrows earlier this month when he told Fox Sports reporter Pam Oliver: ‘There’s no other place I’d rather play. Just so grateful to be a Viking.’”
Sam Darnold put on a clinic of high-level quarterback play against the Falcons.
Seifert also pointed to Darnold and head coach Kevin O’Connell’s previous comments. Both emphasized that the QB is and should remain focused on the present rather than planning for the future.
Still, the report seems like a notable shift. Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips’ comments on Darnold seemed to foreshadow the QB’s exit.
Seifert notes a tag-and-trade scenario would seem more likely than letting Darnold walk.
