Per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Minnesota certainly hopes that it will likely be capable of retain Darnold, who has piloted the Vikings to a 12-2 file and a shot on the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Jones’ sources affirm prior reviews that the 27-year-old passer has set himself up for a contract that will pay him not less than $25M per season, which is, in fact, a substantial elevate on the one-year, $10M deal he signed with the Vikings this 12 months.
That stated, Minnesota is projected to have upward of $70M in cap house in 2025, so a “middle-class” QB deal could be possible. It might even be a cut price if Darnold, below the tutelage of head coach Kevin O’Connell, has really blossomed into the participant the Jets believed he could be after they made him the No. 3 general decide of the 2018 draft.
Darnold’s 104.9 QB score is the fourth-highest mark within the league, he has led 4 game-winning drives and the Vikings are eighth within the league in scoring as of the time of this writing. That efficiency, mixed with Minnesota’s win-loss file, makes it no shock that the workforce desires him again.
After all, the Vikes signed Darnold this offseason to make him a bridge passer, not a long-term fixture below heart. As such, the workforce chosen J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 general decide of this 12 months’s draft, and McCarthy was the participant deemed to be the quarterback of the long run.
Based on Jones, that has not modified. The Vikings’ degree of religion in McCarthy is as excessive because it was when he was drafted, and the season-ending knee damage he suffered in August has not altered the membership’s view of his profession trajectory.
Nonetheless, Darnold’s efforts this season can’t be ignored, and one AFC government informed Jones that McCarthy may turn into Minnesota’s model of Inexperienced Bay’s Jordan Love (a first-round decide who sat behind Aaron Rodgers for a number of seasons earlier than lastly getting an opportunity to run the present).
Since Darnold’s mixture of youth and skill may make him probably the most fascinating QB on this 12 months’s free-agent class, it’s nonetheless potential that his asking worth goes past the Vikings’ consolation degree.
However his 2024 displaying has afforded him the power to be selective about his future house, and Jones says the USC product will naturally train warning to keep away from undesirable conditions like these he discovered himself in as a member of the Jets and Panthers.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says the Browns would have curiosity if Darnold hits the open market, although it’s unclear whether or not Cleveland — regardless of the presumptive presence of a well-respected offensive thoughts in HC Kevin Stefanski — would qualify as a fascinating scenario.
Minnesota has proved to be an ideal match, and if the Vikings are keen to spend, it seems that the door to a multiyear pact between Darnold and the membership stays open.
