Vikings Free Agent Gets the “Crown Jewel” Label
The Minnesota Vikings enter the offseason with a long list of in-house free agents, headlined by numerous starters, including most of the secondary. Cornerbacks Byron Murphy, Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin, and Fabian Moreau will leave a massive hole in their position room.
Vikings Free Agent Gets the “Crown Jewel” Label
In addition to that, the Vikings are scheduled to lose safeties Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has to overhaul his defensive unit ahead of his third campaign in charge of the defense.
On Kevin O’Connell’s side of the ball, running back Aaron Jones would be a prominent loss if he departs after only one season.
And then, well, there’s the elephant in the room: Quarterback Sam Darnold.
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport ranked positions in this year’s free agency from worst to best. Quarterback earned the top spot, and Mr. Darnold was mentioned.
“Then there’s the crown jewel of the free-agent market under center,” Davenport opined. “Sam Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 regular season and finished fifth in the league in passing yards and touchdown passes. That gets players paid, especially when they haven’t turned 30 yet.”
Darnold has just delivered his career-best season, throwing for 35 touchdowns and 4,319 yards in the regular season. He showed enormous growth in all aspects of his game. His excellent arm strength was on full display, and so was his playmaking ability. His scrambles were something Minnesota hasn’t seen in years, aside from a few games with Josh Dobbs.
Despite his late-season downfall, Darnold is expected to demand a hefty price tag. He went to the Pro Bowl and is only 27 years old. His competitors on the market will presumably be aging players like Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins or guys who haven’t shown as much as Darnold, like Justin Fields.
O’Connell’s recent comments about his starting passer sounded a lot like a divorce was coming soon, “Look, you guys know how I feel about Sam,” O’Connell stated. “He is a guy that we identified last year as somebody who could come in and be successful. And really no matter where he was at before he arrived in his quarterback journey, it was about maximizing our time together. And I think we did that, and I think it was a very special year for Sam. And what that earned him is, everybody in our league now thinks he’s a bona fide legitimate starting quarterback and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them.”
Undoubtedly, Darnold showed that he could be a decent signal-caller in the right offense, and the Vikings, indeed, maximized their time with Darnold and vice versa.
“So he’s earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation,” O’Connell concluded.
That last part has raised some eyebrows. If he has deserved the right to be a free agent, that means he will not receive a contract extension (or the franchise tag) from the Vikings ahead of free agency. J.J. McCarthy is the betting favorite to lead the Vikings in the 2025 season.
Potential destinations for Darnold are the New York teams; they both need a new starting quarterback. The Steelers could be an option with Fields and Russell Wilson being free agents and the Rams are an intriguing possibility if Matthew Stafford decides to move on.
The most traction has gone toward the Las Vegas Raiders, however.
Darnold will be one of the top names to watch in free agency. The legal tampering window will open on March 10th, and the league’s crown jewel is a fascinating player to watch.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt