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The Senior Bowl is on today. Get to look at some possible future Vikings provided they have draft picks.
NFL Players Vote Vikings QB Sam Darnold CPOY
There were arguably no more impactful contributors to the Minnesota Vikings strong 2024 season than Sam Darnold and Kevin O’Connell. The former is in line for a significant payday. The latter has already received his, and won’t be going anywhere. Both have been given their flowers with Sporting News end of season awards.
“Darnold is the second Vikings player to win the award since its SN inception in 2008, following Adrian Peterson and his 2,097-yard rushing season in 2012. Quarterbacks have dominated this award of late, winning seven consecutive times.”
Vikings’ Sam Darnold Breaks Silence on Impending Free Agency
After being removed from the spotlight for a couple of weeks, the 27-year-old field general broke the silence about his offseason and potential free agency while at the 2025 Pro Bowl.
“I’ve put a little bit of thought into it. I’m not going to share anything about what I’ve been thinking or the conversations I’ve had behind closed doors,” said Darnold.
“There’s a lot that’s going to happen still, even after the Super Bowl. I’m just going to continue to talk to my agent and figure things out from there.”
Vikings yet to make ‘firm determination’ on projected $100 million QB, per NFL insider
His strong play this season has caused them to pause and take a hard look at their options. Bringing him back feels like a stronger possibility than it was five or six months ago. But the Vikings will have a cap on spending here. Some agents have argued that Darnold shouldn’t take a penny less than Daniel Jones’ four-year, $160 million deal with the Giants from two years ago. Teams have suggested Darnold getting something more in line with Baker Mayfield’s contract (three years, $100 million). In the end, perhaps the transition tag ($35.3 million) makes the most sense.
Pelissero believes ‘most logical’ Sam Darnold outcome is return to Vikings
Tom Pelissero, the Minnesota-based NFL Network insider, thinks the “most logical” outcome is Darnold returning to the Vikings for a second season in 2025.
“I would say on paper the most logical outcome of this is Sam Darnold still in Minnesota. J.J. McCarthy missed his entire rookie season coming off knee surgery. They believe in him. They’re not trading J.J. McCarthy. But there’s no precedent for a guy missing an entire year of reps as a rookie and coming back and playing again like it hasn’t happened,” Pelissero told Sportskeeda.
*“All I know is Sam Darnold played the best football of his career under Kevin O’Connell. The last two games notwithstanding it makes sense for Sam Darnold. All things equal to come back it makes sense for the Vikings to bring him back. They won 14 games with him. .... They also have the franchise tag at...
