Vikings Ruined Daniel Jones’ Free Agency Moment with Looming Sam Darnold Decision

[badgervike]

https://www.newsbreak.com/pro-football-s...fl-analyst

Daniel Jones’ free agency moment was supposed to be his shot at a fresh start, until the Minnesota Vikings decided to crash the party. With rumors swirling about Sam Darnold potentially landing in Minnesota, one NFL analyst claims the Vikings have already complicated Jones’ next move.

Just when it seemed like Jones could reset his career, Darnold’s looming decision is casting a shadow over his market value.

NFL analyst Chris Simms dropped the bombshell on “NFL on NBC,” claiming that Jones’ market value took a hit because of the Vikings’ quarterback shuffle.

Simms suggested that Jones could’ve been “the new Sam Darnold” for the Vikings if things had played out differently. The turning point? The team’s struggles in Week 18. Had Darnold not shown improvement, the Vikings reportedly considered pivoting to Jones for the divisional round. That’s where things get tricky for Jones.

Simms said, “Daniel Jones is fascinating to me because I think he becomes the new Sam Darnold in Minnesota when it’s all said and done. Somebody made this point to me recently, and look, I think the Vikings were indeed considering the possibility, based upon how poorly things went in Week 18.

They were considering the possibility if they managed to win the wild card game and Donald didn’t snap out of it, they might have pivoted to Jones for the divisional round.”

According to Simms, Jones’ late-season decision to leave the practice squad locked him into the roster until the first day of free agency. If he had stayed on the practice squad, he could’ve hit the market months earlier, giving him a head start on negotiating deals, setting up visits, and plotting his next move (a luxury most free agents dream of).

The analyst added, “We reported that at the time, there was a belief [a change] could happen. Something caused Daniel Jones to give up his spot on the practice squad, which would have made him already available. He gave up very late in the game his practice squad spot and took a spot on the roster. Once the roster locked at the end of the season, he was stuck until the first day of free agency.

If he had stayed on the practice squad, Chris, if he had ended the season as a member of the practice squad, he could have already signed by now. Yeah, he would have had a two-month head start on the market, and he could have plotted it all out, negotiated taking his time, taking visits.”

Simms’ analysis highlights a harsh NFL reality: in this league, timing isn’t just important; it’s everything.

[StickierBuns]

Interesting if true about Viking's possibly switching to Jones for the playoff game.

"The turning point? The team’s struggles in Week 18. Had Darnold not shown improvement, the Vikings reportedly considered pivoting to Jones for the divisional round."

[JustInTime]

I would have handled the Jones situation differently. With our issues in the deep red zone I would have developed a specific package for him immediately and built out from there.

No one could have predicted Darnold would so completely and quickly regressed to the mean as he did. But if we had put Temu Josh Allen in early, pulling Darnold when he shit the bed would have be an actual option.

[JimmyinSD]

I am not buying it. As badly as SD was playing the last few weeks, if they really thought that Jones was a possible upgrade they would have made the move at halftime against the Rams, the fans wouldnt have bitched as many thought SD should have been pulled.

[badgervike]

I didn't realize that activating Jones made him have to delay his negotiations past the league year.

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[Zanary]

I am not buying it.  As badly as SD was playing the last few weeks,  if they really thought that Jones was a possible upgrade they would have made the move at halftime against the Rams,  the fans wouldnt have bitched as many thought SD should have been pulled.

With our IOL back to its worst habits when needed most, I think "Dimes" would've been hard-pressed to show much improvement while still being so new.

That said, I may have been hoping for just that in those last two games.

[purplefaithful]

All I can say is.....

Hmmmm

[medaille]

The fact that someone spent enough time to type that out hurts my brain.

[Montana Tom]

With our IOL back to its worst habits when needed most, I think "Dimes" would've been hard-pressed to show much improvement while still being so new.

That said, I may have been hoping for just that in those last two games.

Our Darrisaw replacement, the temp also known as Cam Robinson, really showed the gap between him and who he replaced, particularly in the Rams playoff game.  Clearly that brought the entire OL under more scrutiny.

My belief is that regardless of what happens to Dimes, we will have Darrisaw back, we will upgrade either/both OG positions and we will get a dominating NG/3T on the DL.  The big games are won in the trenches. We have the firepower on offense (either with JJ or Sam or Dimes).  

Isn't it a bit embarrassing to literally have three arguably good/great options at QB going into the season?

[MaroonBells]

Our Darrisaw replacement, the temp also known as Cam Robinson, really showed the gap between him and who he replaced, particularly in the Rams playoff game.  Clearly that brought the entire OL under more scrutiny.

My belief is that regardless of what happens to Dimes, we will have Darrisaw back, we will upgrade either/both OG positions and we will get a dominating NG/3T on the DL.  The big games are won in the trenches. We have the firepower on offense (either with JJ or Sam or Dimes).  

Isn't it a bit embarrassing to literally have three arguably good/great options at QB going into the season?

Agree about Robinson. He hurt us in those games as much or more than anyone else. And yes, it is great to have those options at QB. But there's also a very real chance we end up losing two with only '26 comp picks to show for it. I suppose that's a worst-case scenario. Starting JJ in '25 with literally no one behind him means we have to go find yet another QB. 

Best-case would be Jones getting no attention on the free agent market and the Vikings signing him to a Darnold-like 1-year deal to be JJ's backup and the Vikings finding a way to get some draft capital for Darnold. Tag and trade really shouldn't be as difficult or as controversial as it seems to be.