Why the Vikings should trust their process — and say goodbye to Sam Darnold

David Helman

NFL Reporter

I’m casting a long side eye at the Minnesota Vikings these days.

You know the look you give your dog when you can sense it eying up the food on the kitchen counter? The look that says they’d better not even think about it?

That’s where I’m at with the Vikings — who haven’t yet made a mess of their quarterback situation, but seem to be thinking about it.

Maybe that sounds harsh. After all, I’m a big fan of Sam Darnold. I loved watching him lead the Vikings within a win of the NFC’s No. 1 seed, and I hope he secures a deal to be a well-paid NFL starter when the free agency cycle gets cranking next week.

I just hope that deal doesn’t land him back in Minnesota.

Lest I be labeled a hater, let me explain.

This is all about competitive advantage, and the Vikings currently own an opportunity at a unique one. In an era when the salary cap continues to jump astronomically, and player salaries jump alongside it, Minnesota is in the rare position to operate without fear.

It’s a very specific fear and one that pervades football: the fear of not having a quarterback. That fear is justifiable, as it will sink a franchise and cost even the most accomplished coaches and executives their jobs.

The difference in Minnesota is that the Vikings laid a plan for this problem; they now need only to execute it. They need to trust their vision for J.J. McCarthy.

True, that vision has already changed. McCarthy, the guy they traded up to draft No. 10 overall last spring, tore his meniscus in August. That gave Darnold the chance to embark on his incredible 4,319-yard, 35-touchdown season.

Good as Darnold was, it’s not enough reason to take the game plan off the rails and sign him to a short-term deal, as FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported the two sides are discussing. The Vikings avoided using the franchise tag on Darnold, which would have cost them roughly $40 million against the cap. But even still, it’s a great bet that the 27-year-old QB will command a new contract worth at least $40 million per year on the open market — if not much more, depending on how desperately other teams want quality quarterback play.

He would be an ideal fit if the Vikings had no other options, but that’s the point. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell had the foresight to be ahead of the curve. And even if they’ve lost McCarthy’s rookie year, that’s nothing in comparison to sitting him behind a veteran starter for the foreseeable future.

You can stomach that if your incumbent starter is going to win multiple NFL MVPs, as Aaron Rodgers did after watching the Packers draft his replacement in Jordan Love. That’s not the case in Minnesota.

This is a simple matter of accounting to me. The Vikings have McCarthy under contract for three more years at an average salary of $5.4 million. That matters a lot to a franchise that’s got to juggle the cost of such a loaded roster.

The obvious caveat is that we don’t yet know if McCarthy is any good, but that’s where the Vikings’ true advantage shines through.

They’re good at this! Their head coach is a former NFL quarterback who seems to have a knack for getting the most out of his signal-caller. Cousins was a Pro Bowler in his first season with O’Connell, and in 2023 he was in the midst of a career year when he tore his Achilles. After that injury, O’Connell helped Josh Dobbs lead the Vikings to three wins in five outings.

And then there’s Darnold. Signed for $10 million as an insurance policy against the rookie McCarthy, he was always likely to start in 2024. McCarthy’s injury just assured he’d have no one looking over his shoulder. Kudos to him for making the most of it. After six forgettable seasons elsewhere, he set career highs in every major statistical category with the Vikings in 2024.

Personally, I trust O’Connell to make the most of another cost-effective situation. Daniel Jones spent the second half of last season in Minnesota and could be signed for a fraction of a starting quarterback’s salary. And while Jones might have his flaws, need I remind you that Jones won a playoff game in the Vikings’ building just two years ago?

If not Jones, then there’s Jacoby Brissett or Jameis Winston. I’m not sure Justin Fields fits O’Connell’s offense as well as some others, but I trust KOC could adapt to fit his personnel.

The point being: There are affordable options that could provide competition for McCarthy, and even start if need be. The doubters and deriders would have a field day if Jones or another QB was Minnesota’s Week 1 starter, but they said the same stuff about Darnold up until about Halloween.

Most of the time, quarterbacks hold the leverage in this league. There are too few of them, and the consequences of not having one are drastic.

The Vikings are an outlier. They have a roster and a coach that can work around it, and most importantly they answered this problem on the test last year. They set a course for the future with McCarthy, and I just hope they’re not about to make a mess of it now.

David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.

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