Kevin O’Connell’s Words Loom Large as Free Agency Month Arrives
Kevin O’Connell tends to be forthright with his opinions.
The charming head coach has already said a decent bit about the Vikings’ uncertain quarterback position even though the offseason is still young. One thing that has shined through is that Minnesota intends on letting Sam Darnold test free agency (at least per the head coach). If so, then Mr. Darnold is almost certainly a goner.
Kevin O’Connell’s Thoughts on Sam Darnold
Consider, as a starting point, what O’Connell said back toward the beginning of February.
Kevin Seifert passed along O’Connell’s words: “[Darnold has] earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation.” Earned the right to be a free agent. Strong statement that heavily leans in a certain direction, one that undercuts the idea of applying the franchise tag while similarly undermining the possibility of agreeing to an extension before free agency.
Consider, as well, what Minnesota’s head coach had to say when chatting with CBS Sports not long ago.
“I believe Sam has kind of played himself into being probably the marquee free agent quarterback available,” the head coach explains. “Now there’s a lot of conversations that will take place between now and the start of the league year […] We would love to have Sam back in Minnesota, but at the same time we do feel very confident in J.J. McCarthy. He’s healthy.”
Again, the idea shines through: Minnesota seems intent on allowing last season’s QB1 to march into free agency in March.
Finally, consider what Kevin O’Connell said when he chatted with the media at the NFL Combine.
The head coach said a decent bit about his quarterbacks — predictably, he was asked about his passers — but one idea really shined through: “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.”
Pride in what Darnold accomplished while basically acknowledging that the league is going to be interested signing Minnesota’s 2024 QB1. Indeed, if the NFL believes Darnold can play football at a high level, then Sam Darnold is soon to get a beefy contract from a team that isn’t the Minnesota Vikings.
Last year, Darnold completed 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The lone playoff game featured Darnold completing 62.5% of his passes for 245 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Worst of all, Darnold took 9 sacks, many of which stemmed from holding onto the ball for too long.
The Vikings have more than $63 million in cap space. Affording Darnold is a possibility, but the Vikings seem likely to pivot at the game’s most important position.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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.
