The Kiss of Death for Sam Darnold’s Time with the Minnesota Vikings
A compliment without a commitment. The kiss of death?
Sam Darnold is capable of playing like a QB1. In fact, he’s capable of playing like a strong starter, someone who (mostly) makes a difference on a weekly basis to help his team win. The 14-3 record proves as much even if the Week 18 and Wild Card Round Houdini act leaves a little to be desired. Sensibly enough, a lot of folks have been wondering if he’ll be back, but the recent words from Kevin O’Connell make a departure seem likely.
Sam Darnold’s Time as a Minnesota Viking
Already, Kevin O’Connell has suggested that Mr. Darnold is going to get the chance to test free agency.
The major idea that shines through is that Minnesota’s head coach is proud of his passer. After all, O’Connell was an NFL quarterback before becoming an NFL head coach. He knows what it’s like to face pressure and to struggle in the league. Being part of Darnold’s ascension into becoming a respected passer in the NFL seems to fill O’Connell with pride (rightfully so).
There were a couple of occasions at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine that seemed to further confirm the direction that’s being taken with Sam Darnold and the Vikings.
First off, consider what O’Connell had to say about Darnold while at the microphone in front of some assembled media: “Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level, so that’s a really good thing and I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point. And we’ll see where it goes from here.”
O’Connell also had the chance to do a sit down with KFAN’s Paul Allen. Unsurprisingly, the Darnold topic came up.
“Sam Darnold was a free agent one year ago,” O’Connell explains, “and I believe people view him differently now.” The head coach then reflected on the “year he had” while praising “what he was able to do” before explaining that “people around the league have recognized that.” Shortly thereafter, O’Connell shifts into a broader discussion of the quarterback room more broadly, praising each of Daniel Jones and J.J. McCarthy.
Again, come back to the idea at the top: lots of compliments but not much by way of firm commitments.
The overwhelming sense one gets from O’Connell’s recent words is that he thinks Sam Darnold played excellently in 2024 (for the most part). O’Connell thus believes that the NFL now knows what Darnold is capable of doing: being a legitimate starter. There seems to be a contentment with letting the quarterback march into free agency.
If the expected happens and Darnold gets to free agency, then he’s almost certainly a goner. Some team will drive the price to a point where Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, O’Connell, and the rest of the leadership decide it’s best to move on.
In the playoff game, Sam Darnold went 25/40 (62.5%) for 245 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Worst of all, Darnold was sacked 9 times. The offensive line didn’t do him many favors, but he was guilty of holding onto the football for too long on various occasions.
Using the franchise tag to keep him would cost more than $42 million. Minnesota has the money to do so but the current best guess is that the veteran passer will test free agency in search of a large deal that Minnesota likely won’t be inclined to match.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.