Yahoo Sports: Vikings keeping Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy together in 2025...

[StickierBuns]

...is gaining momentum:

https://sports.yahoo.com/qb-room-vikings...15693.html

[MaroonBells]

I can see both sides of the argument (actually there are probably five sides to the argument). Good problem to have.

[StickierBuns]

I can see both sides of the argument (actually there are probably five sides to the argument). Good problem to have.

Yep, and some of the fan base isn't going to like whatever direction they decide to go. But ultimately, a tough decision will be made but it will come from having really good options.

[MAD GAINZ]

I'm a JJ McCarthy guy, but at this point it seems dumb to let Darnold go for nothing other than a comp pick in 2026 (that we may or may not get depending on our FA moves in 2025).

Be nice if we could parlay a tag and trade to a team that Darnold wants to go to and is willing to give him an extension.

[AGRforever]

It would be a dick move to tag a guy who is looking at +$100m contract. If he blows his knee out in training camp he’s lost significant career money.

Either sign him to 2-4 more years or let him go.

[purplefaithful]

Those guys in the locker room are in a win now mode...You read how the leaders on offense talk about the QB. I know JJ has leadership qualities too, but the optics of moving to him from Sam are (for the most part) taking a step back. And that is understandable as JJ is unknown and essentially a rookie.

I agree with many that this is a complex and multi-faceted issue. 

But that's no excuse for not turning this into advantage Vikings. A good org will do just that. 

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I know how much the Vikings think of J.J. McCarthy, so for a while, I thought the smart move would be to trust your program for developing quarterbacks, swallow hard and let Sam Darnold go while turning to the 10th pick from last April. Doing that, of course, would give you the kind of financial flexibility contending teams rarely have over the next three years, while McCarthy is playing out his rookie deal.

But now? Darnold has played so well, it’s complicated matters. McCarthy’s been out since August, and I wouldn’t expect that he’d be able to show much until the spring. 

You’ve got a good roster full of players that should have a win-now expectation (they’re 13–2 as it is).

And so, to me, in service to those players, I think you have to think about the idea of franchise-tagging Darnold for 2025, even though the tag will exceed $40 million, and either give McCarthy another development year or open up a competition.

It’s not unprecedented, either, for whatever it’s worth. In 2004, the Chargers drafted Philip Rivers to replace Drew Brees. Brees then won the job in camp, had a dynamite 2004 season, and the Chargers tagged him in ’05—he injured his shoulder at the end of that season. In the long run, though, that circumstance worked out for everyone involved.

Source: Albert Breer/SI

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It would be a dick move to tag a guy who is looking at +$100m contract. If he blows his knee out in training camp he’s lost significant career money.
Either sign him to 2-4 more years or let him go.

IT worked for Brees/Rivers and more recently with Brian Burns getting tagged by the Panthers and traded to the Giants. Its not w/out precedence or success.
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Inside Brian Burns' trade from the Panthers to Giants


BURNS SAT OUT practices right before the start of the 2023 season, in hopes of a new contract. Burns returned without a deal before the start of the season, but there didn't seem to be a long-term solution on the horizon in Carolina. 

After eight sacks and a top-10 pass rush win rate (21.8%) in 2023, he was either going to become a coveted free agent or have the franchise tag placed on him for $24 million.

The Panthers eventually chose the latter, with the possibility he would then be moved.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4219...ers-giants

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...is gaining momentum:

https://sports.yahoo.com/qb-room-vikings...15693.html

Good read and solid take on the situation...There are not many teams Darnold could pivot to that has the surround here in MN. 

I think we have to set the bar high for the front office at this moment; take this situation and parlay it into something advantageous for the franchise. 

If my name were Wilf, that is exactly where my head would be. Whether that is tag and trade, whatever....There are situations where the Vikings can capitalize on their wealth at QB. 

What a missed opportunity if they dont. 

Wealth at QB and the Vikings? Who'd have ever thunk it.

[Waterboy]

It would be a dick move to tag a guy who is looking at +$100m contract. If he blows his knee out in training camp he’s lost significant career money.

Either sign him to 2-4 more years or let him go.

How is it a dick move when it’s totally within the rules and been used for years by many different teams in the past?  Great logic.  lol

[purplefaithful]

First, let’s declare Darnold the “Story of the Year”

“$10 million for Sam Darnold?!” That’s the text I got from an NFL general manager when the Vikings signed Darnold in March, after Kirk Cousins left for the Falcons. Fast-forward nine months, and Darnold is having the best season of his career, leading the Vikings to a 13-2 record. They spent a first-round pick on J.J. McCarthy last spring and Darnold is in for a big payday in March. Despite that, after conversations with a team source, one thing is clear: The Vikings want Darnold back in Minnesota for 2025.

While the original plan was for McCarthy to slowly develop into the starting quarterback while Darnold was there to hold the rookie’s place, McCarthy’s injury changed things. Now, the Vikings have a problem — Darnold has been almost too good (not in a bad way, but in a “this is now complicated” way). McCarthy hasn’t played since August, and realistically he won’t be fully in the mix until spring at the earliest. He’s around the building and with the team constantly but he hasn’t been medically cleared.

So, what’s the move? One option on the table: the franchise tag. It’s pricey (more than $40 million) but it buys time. It would give McCarthy another year to develop from the bench, or at least set up a real competition. (There’s nothing wrong with McCarthy sitting — think about what the Packers did with Jordan Love.) And it would give the Vikings a chance to do a shorter-term deal that’s more cap-friendly, yet also gives Darnold similar money to what he’d get on the open market.

These are good problems to have, yet it’s not an easy call. More importantly, before the organization makes any decision at quarterback they need to get head coach Kevin O’Connell signed up for years to come. They took a gamble by not signing him with two years left on his deal. O’Connell has since orchestrated another winning season, reviving another quarterback in Darnold, and is expected to garner Coach of the Year votes. The expectation is a new deal could happen soon. Otherwise, O’Connell is a lame duck in 2025 and will be in high demand. More good problems in Minnesota.

Source: Russini NY Times

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...is gaining momentum:

https://sports.yahoo.com/qb-room-vikings...15693.html

Can u imagine the crickets on Darnold if he craps the bed the next 2 games? 

All of the hyperbole gone - in an instant. 

I dont think it'll happen and it would be sad if it did. But that is the reality of the world, especially pro sports.

[StickierBuns]

Just read that Dianna Russini, a very dialed in NFL insider, said she had a conversation with a Vikings team source and they want 'Darnold back in 2025'.

[rf54]

Been saying this since Aug., Tag and Trade Sam. Now that Daniel Jones Is on team give him the '24 Sam D deal to back-up compete with JJM.