The Vikings’ Path Forward with Sam Darnold Rests in Balancing Competing Priorities
Sam Darnold has played better than basically anyone could have anticipated, leading to legitimate debates about how Minnesota ought to proceed at the game’s most important position. The Vikings’ path forward isn’t easy to discern.
At the risk of being overly bold, however, allow me to toss my hat into the ring (so to speak).
Rather than articulate how I would proceed, I’ll instead offer some rationale for how I think Minnesota’s top leaders will proceed. The end result is a piece that’s predictive rather than prescriptive. Put differently, a piece that attempts to decode the future mystery instead of lining up evidence to support my own preference.
The Vikings’ Path Forward with Sam Darnold
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a GM who is constantly searching for value. So, too, does he want to ensure that Minnesota’s top-tier reputation stays intact. Can he balance these objectives — gaining value while reinforcing a healthy culture — within the Darnold decision?
I think so.
Adofo-Mensah’s first move will be to apply the franchise tag to Mr. Darnold. Doing so would come at the cost of $41,304,000, per the estimate on Over the Cap. The real goal, however, isn’t to secure Darnold’s services for another season but, rather, to maintain team control while searching for a trade partner (side note: has the GM ever been known as someone who is willing to enter into trade negotiations?).
To be sure, others have discussed the possibility of tagging Darnold. Michael Salfino does so on The Athletic, insisting that it’s not a great option. Janik Eckardt of PurplePTSD jumps into the topic, as well. In other words, simply insisting that Darnold could get tagged is far from an original thought. Neither is a tag-and-trade discussion.
Here’s the key, though: Adofo-Mensah does not send Darnold to the highest bidder. Rather, the GM goes to his quarterback for his input. Where does Sam Darnold want to play football in 2025? Factor the player’s preference into the ultimate decision.
The QB has done right by the franchise, offering a great season of quarterback play and a trip to the postseason. Minnesota honors the player by seeking to incorporate his desire for his next location. Doing so helps to strike that tricky balance: gaining good value for a coveted component of NFL football — a quarterback capable of playing at a high level — while helping to preserve the culture that is so cherished inside TCO Performance Center.
The downside is that incorporating Sam Darnold’s input threatens to drive down the potential return in a trade. Generating the most interest possible by getting plenty of teams involved in a bidding war is the best route if the only goal is value. Adofo-Mensah’s priorities, though, extend beyond just value. The GM wants Minnesota to be a place where players want to play.
Sam Darnold has led the Vikings to a 14-3 record. He has completed 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Even more impressive is that he has shown off some playmaking ability with his legs, gaining 23 first downs as a runner (67 carries, 212 yards, and a touchdown).
On PFF, Darnold finished his season as the NFL’s 9th-best passer with an 82.7 grade. His 102.5 passer rating puts him at 6th in the NFL. Oh, and he got named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
Built to be an NFL passer at 6’3″ and 225 pounds, Darnold is still only 27. He’s coming off of consecutive seasons of working under two of the most respected offensive minds in the NFL: Kyle Shanahan in 2023 (where he went all the way to the Super Bowl, invaluable experience) and Kevin O’Connell in 2024 (where he’ll gain experience as a starter in the playoffs).
Add all of this up and one has to assume that at least a couple of teams would be interested in adding Darnold. The key for Minnesota will rest in finding out which team(s) would part with a pick or two. Apply the franchise tag as an extension placeholder and work alongside the quarterback to ensure that he goes somewhere that he wants to go and where he can get the hearty payday that he has earned (Darnold has made north of $60 million in his career, so he shouldn’t be going hungry; regardless, his play points toward a large extension).
In all likelihood, a Day 2 selection could get the job done to onboard Darnold, at least in the scenario we’re exploring in this piece.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a GM who seeks to be balanced in his perspective (as his now infamous competitive rebuild suggested). With Sam Darnold, Adofo-Mensah will lean into his trading ways in an effort to balance his desire to gain good value for the Vikings while still reinforcing the positive culture by incorporating the player within the decision making.
Next up for Darnold is a road contest against the Rams on Monday Night Football. Winning that game would push the Vikings into the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, 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 Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.