Per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports activities, Minnesota certainly hopes that will probably be capable of retain Darnold, who has piloted the Vikings to a 12-2 file and a shot on the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Jones’ sources affirm prior studies that the 27-year-old passer has set himself up for a contract that will pay him at the least $25M per season, which is, in fact, a substantial elevate on the one-year, $10M deal he signed with the Vikings this 12 months.
That stated, Minnesota is projected to have upward of $70M in cap house in 2025, so a “middle-class” QB deal could be possible. It could even be a discount if Darnold, underneath the tutelage of head coach Kevin O’Connell, has really blossomed into the participant the Jets believed he could be after they made him the No. 3 total decide of the 2018 draft.
Darnold’s 104.9 QB score is the fourth-highest mark within the league, he has led 4 game-winning drives and the Vikings are eighth within the league in scoring as of the time of this writing. That efficiency, mixed with Minnesota’s win-loss file, makes it no shock that the group desires him again.
In fact, the Vikes signed Darnold this offseason to make him a bridge passer, not a long-term fixture underneath middle. As such, the group chosen J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 total decide of this 12 months’s draft, and McCarthy was the participant deemed to be the quarterback of the longer term.
In accordance with Jones, that has not modified. The Vikings’ stage of religion in McCarthy is as excessive because it was when he was drafted, and the season-ending knee harm he suffered in August has not altered the membership’s view of his profession trajectory.
Nonetheless, Darnold’s efforts this season can’t be ignored, and one AFC govt instructed Jones that McCarthy might change into Minnesota’s model of Inexperienced Bay’s Jordan Love (a first-round decide who sat behind Aaron Rodgers for a number of seasons earlier than lastly getting an opportunity to run the present).
Since Darnold’s mixture of youth and talent might make him probably the most fascinating QB on this 12 months’s free-agent class, it’s nonetheless doable that his asking value goes past the Vikings’ consolation stage.
However his 2024 exhibiting has afforded him the flexibility to be selective about his future residence, and Jones says the USC product will naturally train warning to keep away from undesirable conditions like these he discovered himself in as a member of the Jets and Panthers.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says the Browns would have curiosity if Darnold hits the open market, although it’s unclear whether or not Cleveland — regardless of the presumptive presence of a well-respected offensive thoughts in HC Kevin Stefanski — would qualify as a fascinating state of affairs.
Minnesota has proved to be an ideal match, and if the Vikings are keen to spend, it seems that the door to a multiyear pact between Darnold and the membership stays open.
