Sam Has To Mess The Bed

[StickierBuns]

Like I said, if the Vikings want him,  the tag route is always a way to ensure a 1 year rental,  or if Team SD want a little more they could take a 2 year extension with more guaranteed money, with the Vikings having outs,  it doesnt need to mean that he cant have SOME veto power to a trade,  but really its not like the Vikings are without cards in this game.  Of course if he were to sign a monster deal elsewhere, that would maybe get us a compensatory pick,  but I would suspect that would get negated by any free agent splashes we would be making,  so I would feel better with SD on a tradeable deal,  that way we would be more assured of compensation for when he leaves.

From ESPN:

The Purple Persuasion
@TPPSkol
"At the very least he's getting the Baker Mayfield contract if he continues to play this way." @TampaBayTre
on the #Vikings QB Sam Darnold's next deal on This is Football with @bykevinclark
.
Sikkema added that the 1 or 2 year deal "doesn't exist" anymore, Darnold will be signing for a long term deal.

[TheWinterSKOLdier]

Honestly, I'm too busy enjoying the ride right now to give a rat's ass what happens in the offseason. Granted, it's going to be a big topic of discussion, but I'm on too big a high right now to contemplate what might happen 5-6 months from now.

[Waterboy]

LOL, whats a "shitload", nobody has said to offer him a deal that would reset the market or anything close,  I think the only money thats been discussed would be in the low to mid 30s,  and would have to include the teams ability to trade him if JJM takes the job.  I dont think anybody is assuming it would be SDs job going forward just because he has a new deal with the Vikes,  its simply not wanting to put all our eggs in one basket without a competent back up plan.  Its not just the JJM that is part of the plan,  its also includes a lot of talent that was signed around this window and if JJM is not to the level of where SD is currently then you are risking wasting years of other players until JJM is ready.  We all liked what we saw and heard regarding JJM, but it would be pretty presumptuous to assume that he will be ready to take the reigns of a team that right now looks like it is poised for a big run.

Kirk was only paid $45MM.  If Darnold continues on this track, his contract will be similar or more.  If he doesn't match Kirk's performance.  Why would you re-sign Darnold.  Bottom line, if he performs so far above expectations, he's going to get paid for it.  McCarthy can do that for four more years without the bubble bursting.  Big difference.

[JimmyinSD]

Kirk was only paid $45MM.  If Darnold continues on this track, his contract will be similar or more.  If he doesn't match Kirk's performance.  Why would you re-sign Darnold.  Bottom line, if he performs so far above expectations, he's going to get paid for it.  McCarthy can do that for four more years without the bubble bursting.  Big difference.

I am not against JJM, I was very happy with the pick, but he has proven nothing, absolutely nothing that suggests that the team be turned over to him without a solid fall back plan in place. He will get very little growth in terms of live bullets. If its not SD then the team will need to be looking for another bridge type QB to fill SDs role next year, because we dont have that in our QB2 or QB3 currently on the roster. Theres a big difference in liking what weve seen to date from JJM and knowing that he is ready to take the QB1 role without a safety net.

worst case scenario, you franchise tag SD, if JJM beats him out and you are convinced that he can handle the load, you look to trade SD to a team that he is willing to sign long term with and you sign him to that deal and then trade him and his contract ( you cant trade a player on the franchise tag directly)

[Kentis]

... and bounce back from it in order to consider extending him.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently-- Would it be smart to extend Darnold now to something shorter and more manageable, versus potentially trying to outbid other teams for him on the open market in the offseason?

I've seen the question brought up here and my thought has been, let's just wait. There's no rush, it's only been 4 games, JJM looked great... It makes sense. But if he'd sign today for something like 2 years, $40M with an understanding we may trade him after year 1, would that be such a bad thing? It could wind up looking like a huge bargain as soon as a month from now. For reference, Baker had one good season in Tampa and signed a 3-year, $100M extension this past offseason. In other words, a two-year deal might be off the table come March. So there are pros to doing a deal now for sure.

But I realized if we signed him today and then the next week he has a dud, there would be absolute panic in the streets. It would be a very uncomfortable wait until the next game and then who knows what would happen. It's too scary to think about.

So I've decided I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other-- extend Sam soon or wait it out-- But I do feel like we HAVE to see Sam have a bad game (turnovers, lose, sacks, the whole 9) and come back the next week looking like Our Sam in order for me to fully have faith. Once he does that, I'm at peace with any decision. I should note I say this all as a huge, antsy, JJ McCarthy fan who would be excited to roll with him as QB1 next year as well.

How about settling for a bad 1st half & a comeback victory…!? 

[pattersaur]

From ESPN:

The Purple Persuasion
@TPPSkol
"At the very least he's getting the Baker Mayfield contract if he continues to play this way." @TampaBayTre
on the #Vikings QB Sam Darnold's next deal on This is Football with @bykevinclark
.
Sikkema added that the 1 or 2 year deal "doesn't exist" anymore, Darnold will be signing for a long term deal.

"If he continues to play this way," is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I said the same thing in the OP though so I agree with Tampa Tre.

To the people saying we won't be able to afford Sam this offseason if he plays well-- I agree. That's why the window to maybe have a chance at signing him is now. I still would need to see more before I did that if I were Minnesota, but they wouldn't be doing their jobs if they weren't having these talks, imo.

[Vikergirl]

Darnold keeps playing well, he will have plenty of interest and get a bag. There are several teams in need of a qb. It would be a tough decision. On the one hand, you have a qb that has proven he can sustain his performance and open up possibilities. I get the back and forth on JJM but at some point they have to see what he can do. No matter how much people what if the situation (what if he isn't ready, he needs more time, etc), the situation still has to play out. Hopefully Sam will continue to ball out. It is a great fit with KOC and Darnold. Good for him.

[SFVikingFan]

Regardless of what happens, it's amazing to me as a Vikings fan to even have this discussion. It is not exactly in our history to be well set up at QB, especially in both the short and long term. Just look at our situation compared to 7 months ago when we let Cousins walk and had no good option to start at QB, let alone two.

I'm pinching myself at how well this offseason has worked out all around.

[CFIAvike]

Darnold got signed with the idea that he has the opportunity make the best of a one year contract and get himself PAID next offseason, but not by the Vikings.

I’d be absolutely FLOORED if the front office went backwards and signed Darnold to a massive deal. The only way that happens is if they don’t like what they see in JJM, and every bit of rhetoric coming out of the Vikings camp refutes that idea.

Even if Darnold somehow wins us a Super Bowl (which I still believe is nearly impossible), he gets the Nick Foles/Jeff Hostetler treatment.

[MaroonBells]

Regardless of what happens, it's amazing to me as a Vikings fan to even have this discussion. It is not exactly in our history to be well set up at QB, especially in both the short and long term.  Just look at our situation compared to 7 months ago when we let Cousins walk and had no good option to start at QB, let alone two.

I'm pinching myself at how well this offseason has worked out all around.

Exactly. Last spring we had no QB. We called up Harbaugh to see if he might want to trade Justin Herbert. Imagine one of the NFL's great young QBs running this offense. Well that's what we have now. Sam Darnold is 1 year older than Herbert. He's younger than Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. And right now at least he's better than all of them. Oh and lest I forget, we also drafted JJ McCarthy. 

It's like we just won the lottery, the Powerball Mega Millions Jackpot, and we're fighting over what to do with all the cash.