Is Franchise Tag an option for Darnold?

[Montana Tom]

All the discussion about Darnold, JJM and even Danny Dimes (sitting on PS)...made me ponder the various options of this 3-dimensional chess match.  Having some control over Darnold, JJM and Jones is almost an embarassment of riches, but how those three are managed at the most important position in the game will be critically viewed...and we don't know how the season is going to end.

These are the options that I hear being kicked around waaaaay too early:

Do you attempt to extend Darnold for another one or two years...or four years?
Do you let him walk and get his money bag elsewhere?
Do you let him walk and hand over the keys to the JJM next year?
Do you let him walk and start the Daniel Jones Redemption Tour to get JJM more time?
Does Daniel Jones fit in this equation anywhere?

Another option I considered, and I do not know if it is possible or not, is to Franchise Tag Darnold for another year as JJM sits in the wings.
I don't know if Franchise Tag is an option for Darnold, but if it is it seems like a more economical (by $10-20mm) than signing Darnold to a contract befitting a Top 5 QB in the NFL, probably in the range of a Joe Burrows or Trevor Lawrence money.  

Current projected Franchise Tag for a QB in 2025 is $41,304,000.  

Is this an option?

[Vanguard83]

Why on EARTH would you use the term PONDER !?!

I was actually WONDERING the same thing. Personally, I'd rather go with the guy getting it done, than with someone in the wings, no matter their potential. I've been really impressed with Sam's moxy, and frankly his arm strength. He can escape -OR- will stand & deliver in full knowledge he's going to get hit.

If the tag is an option, I say let him know in advance that they would be looking at tagging him, but would RATHER work something equitable for longer contract.

NOTE - JUST saw "Elephant in the room" / looks to be same discussion...

[StickierBuns]

It is, but the whole thing would plop down on the 2025 cap. No deferments. No spreading it out. Just a one year hard cap burn.

[pattersaur]

Bad teams let good players walk without getting any return (more than a comp pick credit).

It does happen sometimes and I don't fault the Vikings for not knowing they were signing a Good Player last offseason when they inked Darnold. But he is one now and he's here. When you see the prices teams will pay for QBs, it'd be a shame to say bon voyage without at least some trade compensation if at all possible.

Barring a meltdown he's priced himself out of a short-term, Baker deal. Franchise tag might be our best option to keep him around.

[dadevike]

All options have to be on the table except for one: we cannot let Darnold walk for nothing. That would be a criminal waste of resources. When Teddy blew out his knee we traded a first round pick for Bradford who I believe was then a backup. There are QB-needy teams that will not be able to draft a good rookie QB. There will likely be a QB or 2 who goes down in the preseason. If we are not going to keep him, we need to sign or franchise Sam and trade for at least a first if not 2 firsts.

Yes, the franchise tag is available.

Don't assume we get a 3rd round comp pick for Darnold in the 2026 draft. The Vikings have money this year but few draft picks so I expect we will be busy in free agency - maybe busy enough to cancel out a Darnold comp pick. And if he remains a "franchise QB" the rest of this season, getting a year-delayed third round pick for a franchise QB means we were idiots. Assuming he does not implode, we can't just let him walk. He is playing great and is one of the best deep passers in the NFL.

We think and hope JJM will be good. I watched every game he played at Michigan. He did not throw very many passes. His long ball was a line drive and not very accurate (I am a Michigan fan and a big fan of JJM.) He looked better at that in the short time he played in the preseason but a tiny sample size. I think eventually he will be good. But Sam is already doing what we hope JJM will be able to do eventually.

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It is, but the whole thing would plop down on the 2025 cap. No deferments. No spreading it out. Just a one year hard cap burn.

All true. But we are carrying over $65M in dead cap now and have some $75M in cap space for next year. Yes we need to sign a CB or two and hopefully an OG or DT. But we have the resources. You don't let a franchise QB walk away for nothing. 

Hell, we could do a complete 180 and sign Sam long term and trade JJM for huge comp and use Daniel Jones as our next resurrection project and then trade him for draft picks. We are in a good spot. This is a good problem. Just don't screw it up.

[pattersaur]

All options have to be on the table except for one: we cannot let Darnold walk for nothing. That would be a criminal waste of resources. When Teddy blew out his knee we traded a first round pick for Bradford who I believe was then a backup. There are QB-needy teams that will not be able to draft a good rookie QB. There will likely be a QB or 2 who goes down in the preseason. If we are not going to keep him, we need to sign or franchise Sam and trade for at least a first if not 2 firsts.

Yes, the franchise tag is available.

Don't assume we get a 3rd round comp pick for Darnold in the 2026 draft. The Vikings have money this year but few draft picks so I expect we will be busy in free agency - maybe busy enough to cancel out a Darnold comp pick. And if he remains a "franchise QB" the rest of this season, getting a year-delayed third round pick for a franchise QB means we were idiots. Assuming he does not implode, we can't just let him walk. He is playing great and is one of the best deep passers in the NFL.

We think and hope JJM will be good. I watched every game he played at Michigan. He did not throw very many passes. His long ball was a line drive and not very accurate (I am a Michigan fan and a big fan of JJM.) He looked better at that in the short time he played in the preseason but a tiny sample size. I think eventually he will be good. But Sam is already doing what we hope JJM will be able to do eventually.

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All true. But we are carrying over $65M in dead cap now and have some $75M in cap space for next year. Yes we need to sign a CB or two and hopefully an OG or DT. But we have the resources. You don't let a franchise QB walk away for nothing. 

Hell, we could do a complete 180 and sign Sam long term and trade JJM for huge comp and use Daniel Jones as our next resurrection project and then trade him for draft picks. We are in a good spot. This is a good problem. Just don't screw it up.

McCarthy eventually getting Garappolo'd would be an absolutely insane plot twist lol. Seems crazy but the 2024 Vikings are 11-2 so crazy things are afoot.

[purplefaithful]

Deep breathing time...

They (KOC) loves JJM and they aren't going to do anything dumb with him. Unless something completely off the radar happens, he is the QBOTF here. The only question is when.

[StickierBuns]

From Breer at MMQB SI.com:

Minnesota Vikings
"Sam Darnold has given the Minnesota Vikings a champagne problem. And Kevin O’Connell really summed up the feelings of the organization in his postgame address to his players.

“This guy’s been on one for a few weeks, and he just keeps getting better and better and better and better,” O’Connell said. “And if people don’t understand now? Then, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Sunday was billed as Kirk Cousins’s return to the Twin Cities. And Darnold didn’t just double up his predecessor in points scored (42–21). He did the same in passer rating (157.9-70.1) and left little doubt on whether the Vikings made the right call back in March.

Darnold finished 22-of-28 for 347 yards and five touchdowns without throwing a pick. The Vikings scored the game’s final 21 points. Justin Jefferson hadn’t scored since Oct. 20, and Darnold got him two. Jordan Addison scored twice, too, with the first coming on the first big third down of the second half. Darnold’s passer rating was a franchise record, and also his 11th of the season in triple-digits, another Vikings best (with four games left).

So look, again, at the point O’Connell made. … If people don’t understand now …

If I’m translating that, it means roughly this: Stop indicting him for being a draft bust, and start to realize that he was worthy of his draft position after all. It makes sense, too. Think about it. Darnold entered Week 14 in the top 10 in the NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating, and then had the 347-yard, five-touchdown game. His team is 11–2. He plays in the NFL’s toughest division.

He's 27 now and was taken with the No. 3 pick in 2018, and he’s playing like it. As for the team that drafted him, the New York Jets have fired two coaches and two general managers since drafting Darnold, and have the longest playoff drought (14 years) in the four major U.S. men’s pro sports leagues.

Who was the problem again? You think it was Darnold?

Of course, the result of this, for the Vikings, is a champagne problem. At some point in the offseason, J.J. McCarthy, whom Minnesota took with the 10th pick in April, will be cleared. The staff loved his work before he tore his meniscus in August. So the next domino for the franchise, after the season ends, will be a decision on whether to try to re-sign Darnold or just turn to McCarthy, who’s on an affordable rookie contract.

One factor in that decision will be Darnold’s price point. To work to ascertain that, I asked a few execs Sunday night where they saw Darnold’s market. One guessed he’d command a three-year, $110 million contract, with more than $40 million guaranteed. Another said he thought the Vikings should consider franchise tagging him, even though the price on that projects to top $41 million, and that he’d probably get $40 million per year if he hit the open market.

So it’s a healthy inflation bump off what Baker Mayfield got coming off his own revival season in Tampa—a three-year, $90 million deal last March. And it’d be justified, too, as a recognition of the coming of age of a guy who always had the talent to make it.

Because, at this point, if you throw your preconceived notions out, that’s who Darnold is." - Albert Breer, SI.com

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Deep breathing time...

They (KOC) loves JJM and they aren't going to do anything dumb with him. Unless something completely off the radar happens, he is the QBOTF here. The only question is when.

Yeah, the Vikings aren't trading JJ McCarthy, lol. Sigh, this is going to be a nutty offseason with some of the fanbase.

[purplefaithful]

Ideally, I think the best thing for the Vikings (and JJM) would be if Darnold signed a short-term extension here.

For all the reasons discussed:

1). Takes heat off JJM to have to hit the ground running in a rook year and coming off a year long injury
2). Gives the club more time to see if what they have with Darnold is a 1 year wonder or not (good pt by supa)
3). Just gives everyone more breathing room
4). Love and Rogers benefitted by sitting some and KOC offense is complex as hell.

It'll be VERY INTERESTING to see which clubs make a play and are the Vikings one of em? Yah Sticky, it'll be a nutty off-season. On par with last year and Kirko leaving.

[Bullazin]

3/110 is a good deal for Darnold. I’d do it. Right now, there’s as good of a chance of JJM having us at 11-2 as there is me being a supermodel.

Patience is the hardest thing in fandom. JJM being here if Sam gets hurt and being here in 3 years with multiple years of development is a double dose of luxury.