There’s a Front-Runner for the Vikings’ QB2 Spot in 2025
Everything in the Vikings news cycle leads to one final question: Will the Vikings keep Sam Darnold after he delivered a Pro Bowl season or move forward with last year’s rookie J.J. McCarthy at the quarterback position? While all options are still on the table, considering how Kevin O’Connell has talked in the last few days, it feels like the veteran departing is the more likely scenario.
There’s a Front-Runner for the Vikings’ QB2 Spot in 2025
During Super Bowl week, the head coach was unsurprisingly asked about the passer who had just thrown for 35 touchdowns under his tutelage, and he said, “[Sam 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.”
Of course, the Vikings could still slap the franchise tag on him, but that doesn’t really match the claim that he has earned the right to become a free agent and subsequently sign with the team he wants to for the conditions he wants.
The Vikings, meanwhile, have McCarthy waiting in the wings, and the club can save about $35 million per year by giving him the reins. He has emphasized in recent media appearances that he is ahead of schedule and back on the field throwing the ball, leading to the suggestion that his knee won’t be a problem going forward.
Still, the Vikings have seen in the last couple of years that an injury can occur at any point, and having a plan b at the most important position is essential. A signal-caller is needed who can provide a solid floor in O’Connell’s offense and could guide his operation in case he has to for injury or developmental reasons. Basically, the Vikings need a new Sam Darnold.
That man will be an experienced player who’s available in free agency. There are numerous options, including Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, Jacoby Brissett, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jameis Winston. Those guys have been backups and bridge starters for years and could help McCarthy grow. They also have the ability to lead the team to a win or two if necessary.
Then there are players who possess intriguing physical tools, but their track record hasn’t been that great in the league, such as Zach Wilson or Justin Fields. A combination of both categories is Daniel Jones. His 2022 season was his best year, including a playoff triumph over the Vikings.
A few days ago, O’Connell talked about Jones, who spent the final two months of the 2024 campaign with the Vikings, and he gave some intel about Jones’ work with the Vikings.
We got a chance to talk quite a bit before he made his decision to come to Minnesota. And what I learned about him is, you know, just an incredibly smart guy in depth, knows kind of where he wants to go with his career. Decided to come to Minnesota, and when he arrived, I told him, there’s sequences to this. There’s the first two, three weeks where I just want you to decompress. I want you to have the ability to take a breath, come in here, be around your new teammates, build those relationships.
We’re going to start building you up by teaching you the offense and starting to transition you to how we want to play with the Minnesota Vikings at the quarterback position. And then as that time went on, you felt him get more comfortable. That guard dropped down a little bit, and he became one of the guys in that room.And every single day he was making a throw, whether it was on the scout team, or going to our receivers, whether it was Justin or Jordan, or one of these guys saying, ‘Man, this guy can throw the football.’
So that’s the starting point. That’s what I knew about Daniel Jones, the physical talent, big, strong guy, athletic. And then you peel back the layers, and you see you start to see some of that same upside that I saw with Sam. And thought there would be a real opportunity to grow that position through those guys, and I feel the same way about Daniel Jones, and we’ll see how it all shakes out.
NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero collaborated on a quarterback update for NFL.com, and, of course, the Vikings earned a section. That paragraph included the following report, “If Darnold leaves, the Vikings will add a veteran insurance policy, with Daniel Jones among the logical options after spending the last half of the season in Minnesota.”
Jones entered the league in 2019 as the sixth overall pick of the New York Giants. Acquired to be the heir apparent to Eli Manning, Jones had three up-and-down seasons to start his career. When Brian Daboll arrived as New York’s head coach, he helped Jones to new heights, and the Duke alumnus played quite well for a year in 2022.
His 2023 season started with subpar quarterback play and ended with a torn ACL. He threw only two touchdowns and six interceptions in six starts. Last season, he recorded eight passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. Ultimately, the Giants decided to cut him to avoid any risk of having to cover his injury guarantees in a worst-case scenario.
He then moved on to the Vikings, taking a couple of steps back under O’Connell, staying on the practice squad, learning the offense behind the scenes.
He didn’t appear in an NFL game and was the emergency quarterback in the playoff defeat.
Jones has a track record of 70 passing touchdowns, 47 interceptions, and 14,582 passing yards in 69 career starts while showing his mobility on the ground with 2,179 yards and 15 scores. Those numbers, quite frankly, are better than Darnold’s prior to his arrival in the Twin Cities.
The hope is that O’Connell, who has shown the ability to elevate the play of his quarterbacks, can do the same with Jones. The headstart he got last season is intriguing.
While all options are still on the table, a quarterback room of McCarthy and Jones seems to be the most likely option for the 2025 campaign.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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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