Daily Norseman
It may be the most obvious and defining statement about the Minnesota Vikings’ 2025 season, but it’s worth saying loud and clear: letting Sam Darnold go was a massive blunder by Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings’ Front Office. Yes, it’s a whole lot easier to make that assessment with the benefit of hindsight, but looking back on the decision, not knowing how McCarthy would fare, was there not a strong case for extending Darnold that the Vikings either ignored or downplayed based on their faith in McCarthy?
Let’s take a closer look.
The Vikings knew what they had in Sam Darnold after a season in Minnesota. Darnold’s jump start of his career as a starter while surprising to many, was not fluky. It wasn’t perfect either. Darnold struggled when facing pressure, but he did pretty much everything else well and with some consistency. It wouldn’t have been surprising either if Darnold benefitted by another year in Minnesota, with greater rapport with receivers and better command of the scheme. And if the Vikings were able to plug some of the holes in their interior offensive line and get Christian Darrisaw back, so much the better.
The Vikings also could have afforded the same contract Darnold signed with Seattle. Indeed, the Vikings are said to have offered Darnold a similar contract, but Darnold was also told that McCarthy was their quarterback of the future. And so he signed with the Seahawks. That contract has salary cap hits of $13.4 million in 2025, $33.9 million in 2026, and $41.9 million in 2027. Had the Vikings told Darnold he’s their guy going forward, it would’ve been an easy decision for Darnold to extend with the Vikings.
Darnold led the Seahawks and their top defense to the top seed in the NFC this season. Had the Vikings pushed their chips in on Darnold, the Vikings may well have been in the same position as the Seahawks and a legitimate contender to win it all.
When the Vikings decided Sam Darnold wasn’t the future, resulting in Darnold signing with the Seahawks, J.J. McCarthy had one half of a preseason game of experience and one season-ending injury. The Vikings’ coaching staff had worked with McCarthy to improve his fundamentals during the 2024 offseason and Kevin O’Connell said several times that he had a detailed development plan for McCarthy. That plan included development milestones McCarthy needed to complete before he would be considered ready to start an NFL game.
Shortly before it was known McCarthy would be out for the season, Kevin O’Connell said McCarthy would get some first team reps for the remainder of training camp following McCarthy’s preseason game. That didn’t happen as McCarthy suffered a season-ending meniscus tear in light duty against the Raiders. McCarthy’s injury prevented his gaining practice reps over the course of the season, effectively ending his rookie year development.
It would seem unlikely that the...
