Vikings sign Daniel Jones

[StickierBuns]

If I understand correctly he could still possibly be poached from another team while on PS.
He could also refuse if that were to happen.

I think that is part of this.....if a playoff team loses their starting QB due to injury, Jones would have the flexibility to sign and start with them if he so chose. 

Ben Goessling
@BenGoessling
·17m
Soon to be in the Vikings' QB meetings:

Sam Darnold: 2018 pick 1-3
Daniel Jones: 2019 pick 1-6
J.J. McCarthy: 2024 pick 1-10

Quite the QB retreat Kevin O’Connell will have for the rest of this year.

[pattersaur]

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I could be wrong but think Jones is meant to be our 2025 backup, more than he is bait for a comp pick. Right now the only QB we have under contract next year is McCarthy.

I think Jones will be around next year too but if he's with us in Week 18 and depending on the circumstances, they better elevate him! If we don't elevate him at all, I wonder if the possible comp pick reverts to the Giants? That'd be even more incentive to do it.

[purplefaithful]

If I understand correctly he could still possibly be poached from another team while on PS.
He could also refuse if that were to happen.

Thats my understanding too...
Raiders come a calling in a week or 2 he can say thanks but no thanks...

I could be wrong but think Jones is meant to be our 2025 backup, more than he is bait for a comp pick. Right now the only QB we have under contract next year is McCarthy.

I suspect he'll get moved to the 53 by Wk 18 for comp purposes. For 25, Mullens could be gone and the QB room is JJM/Dimes/Rookie or FA.

Agreed, the QB and DB rooms are pretty bare for 25. 

If they do sign Dimes to a contract, the only quesiton is will QB1 be an open competition in 25 or is JJ is the presumed starter and Dimes knows he's QB2?

Lots of potential scenarios, but those are for another day. We got the end of a 9/2 season to enjoy!!

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Wow is right. KOC is a rockstar with the players obviously and around the league. His next contract is just going up and up, Zygi.....not sure what you are waiting for.

Yup, they cost themselves some big coin waiting...

KOC and Darnold are both going to get the bag.

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Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterNov 27, 2024, 12:36 PM ET

EAGAN, Minn. -- The smile said it all. Pressed Monday about his interest in signing free agent quarterback Daniel Jones, Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell uttered 10 words -- one of the shortest answers he's ever given at a news conference -- and then pursed his lips in an unsuccessful attempt to suppress a growing grin.

"Really not going to get into that at this time," O'Connell said.

There will be no reason to skip over the topic Wednesday, or moving forward, after the Vikings signed the former New York Giants quarterback to a one-year contract for the remainder of the season. 

But an updated question remains valid: What exactly was there to smile about?

Jones failed so spectacularly as the Giants' starter this season that the team decided it was better for the franchise to not only bench him, but to bury him on the depth chart and then waive him, rather than risk an injury that could trigger 2025 guarantees. Since New York drafted him with the No. 6 pick in 2019, Jones ranks 27th out of 39 eligible quarterbacks in QBR.

The answer lies in the complicated quarterback matrix the Vikings find themselves in, one that seemed destined to remain dormant until the offseason but will now take a prominent place in public discussion around the team.

Starter Sam Darnold joined Minnesota on a one-year contract during the offseason and has surpassed all expectations in leading the Vikings to a 9-2 record, having already topped his career high in touchdown passes (20), and he could command a hefty free agent contract.

Darnold is 27 and perhaps hitting the prime of his career, and re-signing him would make sense in the abstract. But rookie J.J. McCarthy, the No. 10 pick of the 2024 draft, is the team's quarterback of the future. Adding a market-level veteran deal for Darnold would negate the roster-building advantage of having a starter on a rookie contract.

Plus McCarthy's performance during training camp suggested he was close to being ready to start even then. At the time, O'Connell said: "I really believe that J.J. has kind of confirmed to me and a lot of our coaches and players that we got the right guy in the building for the future."

McCarthy is also the only quarterback under contract for the 2025 season, as backups Nick Mullens and Brett Rypien are on expiring deals as well. Even if you assume McCarthy will make a full recovery from surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee, one that required a second surgery earlier this month to address swelling, the Vikings would need to pair him with a veteran of some kind.

That's probably the best way to think about Wednesday's move. It's pretty unlikely the Vikings will need Jones to play this season, assuming Darnold remains healthy and maintains his level of play. (Vikings fans will remember, however, that the team went through four quarterbacks in 2023. It can happen.)

O'Connell has earned a reputation as one of the NFL's best quarterback tutors, and his work with Darnold this season should serve as a résumé-defining accomplishment.

He spearheaded the team's transition from Kirk Cousins this spring, ultimately deciding on a combination of Darnold and McCarthy, and he said Monday that he had a strong evaluation of Jones prior to the 2019 draft. That season, O'Connell was Washington's offensive coordinator and ultimately watched as the Giants selected Jones at No. 6 while Washington drafted Dwayne Haskins at No. 15.

If nothing else, the Vikings get a chance to see Jones close up and work with him months before they will have to make an offseason decision on building the position's depth around McCarthy.

Jones, meanwhile, will get the benefit of attending one of the NFL's top quarterback schools before he needs to market himself in free agency. He will start out on the Vikings' practice squad, so he'll also have the chance to sign with another team if a starting quarterback goes down in the next three weeks.

Could Jones be the player the Vikings want behind, or beside, McCarthy in 2025? Perhaps. 

That would put Jones in a similar spot to where Darnold found himself in as the 49ers' backup in 2023, a move that helped spur his arrival in Minnesota. There's no harm in finding out earlier rather than later. The one risk, however, is adding another veteran quarterback in the middle of a playoff push, which suggests the team is already thinking about the moment when its current starter moves on.

Darnold has been rock-solid through some ups and downs during his brief Vikings tenure, and he has been careful to avoid public discussion about his past or his future. So Jones' arrival might not matter much to him, but at the very least, it will require an extra level of management from O'Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown.

There will be plenty of smiles in Minnesota today -- along with a reminder that the future can come faster than you think.

[MAD GAINZ]

Darnold has nothing to worry about. It'll take at least a month for Daniel Jones to learn the offense, build some chemistry with our offensive players, etc.

Sam is our starter this season, period. He's earned it. He's also signing somewhere else after this year. He earned himself a Baker contract.

All this move means is the Vikings have an opportunity to get another veteran former first round bust in here to see if we can work some magic with him and give us an option to potentially keep him around next year as a veteran backup to JJM or competition to push him... Or we get a comp pick if he leaves.

Speaks volumes Jones turned down (allegedly) 17 opportunities to sign with us as a backup. Another feather in Kevin O'Connell's cap being the type of coach guys want to come play for.

[viking1987returns]

I beleive the vikings can protect 4 players every week on the practice squad .under think he will be protected so I wo

[JR44]

Rapoport said the Raiders, Ravens, 49ers and Dolphins also tried to sign him.

[supafreak84]

Good signing. I feel better about our chances if something happens to Darnold now

[StickierBuns]

Good signing. I feel better about our chances if something happens to Darnold now

Mullens would play, not Jones. This signing is a bit odd honestly for Minnesota. Paul Allen said he'd bet a paycheck that Mullens would get all the play if something happened to Darnold, which makes sense. How would Jones catch up at this point? If Jones doesn't end up being the backup next year, this signing is nothing more than a warm hug.....but I think there's some smoke to the fire of backup for Danny Dimes in 2025 in Minnesota. I think KOC laid out a plan. But even then I still have a hard time seeing it from Jones's perspective fully.

[MaroonBells]

Jones, meanwhile, will get the benefit of attending one of the NFL's top quarterback schools before he needs to market himself in free agency. He will start out on the Vikings' practice squad, so he'll also have the chance to sign with another team if a starting quarterback goes down in the next three weeks.

Just like degrees or certifications for certain jobs, Jones can soon bill himself as a KOC-trained QB in the 2025 market. Pretty clever on his part. 

So I think I've changed my mind completely on what this is all about. I no longer think Jones is intended to be our backup in 2025. It's possible, but he's going to be a free agent. He's not going to get $40M again, but he'll get a low-end starter salary and the Vikings are not really in the market for that.  

Vikings are doing Mr. Dimes a solid by letting him perch on our PS to watch the knees and ankles of all the QBs on playoff teams. If one goes down, he signs with that team. No harm, no foul. If one doesn't, he stays at KOC-U, puts that at the top of his resume, signs with a new team in the fall and the Vikings get what should be another 3rd round comp pick.

[purplefaithful]

Just like degrees or certifications for certain jobs, Jones can soon bill himself as a KOC-trained QB in the 2025 market. Pretty clever on his part. 

So I think I've changed my mind completely on what this is all about. I no longer think Jones is intended to be our backup in 2025. It's possible, but he's going to be a free agent. He's not going to get $40M again, but he'll get a low-end starter salary and the Vikings are not really in the market for that.  

Vikings are doing Mr. Dimes a solid by letting him perch on our PS to watch the knees and ankles of all the QBs on playoff teams. If one goes down, he signs with that team. No harm, no foul. If one doesn't, he stays at KOC-U, puts that at the top of his resume, signs with a new team in the fall and the Vikings get what should be another 3rd round comp pick.

You could be spot on...My guess is its a slightly longer play than that. 

I'll predict that he signs for 1 year with the Vikings (on a Darnold like contract) to immerse in the cleansing, soothing & warm waters of TCO. 

A mos or two at season end isnt enough time (physically, mentally or spiritually).