After the Rams agreed to a restructured deal to retain QB Matthew Stafford, Vikings QB Sam Darnold becomes the biggest name available on the quarterback market.
It was recently reported the Vikings are not expected to franchise tag Darnold, allowing other teams to pursue the veteran signal-caller. The Giants, Raiders, Titans and Steelers were all named as teams with interest earlier and will likely pursue Darnold in some way with him set to hit the open market.
Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave an update on the situation, expecting the Vikings to get a multi-year deal done to keep him in Minnesota.
“The Vikings are not expected to tag Sam Darnold,” Shefter said. “And it would not be surprising if the two sides figure it out, some type of short-term contract that enabled the Vikings to get Sam Darnold, that enabled him to get paid, that enabled them to run it back in the event that J.J. McCarthy is not fully ready this season from his knee injury…”
Schefter thinks a team like the Giants will try to pry Darnold away but he believes the team that makes the most sense remains the Vikings.
“To me Sam Darnold to Minnesota makes sense, but now that he’s not going to be tagged, other teams are going to have their say. So we’ll see if there’s a team out there, like the New York Giants that makes a compelling-enough offer to pry loose Sam Darnold. My guess as we tape this is no. My guess is the one that makes the most sense is Minnesota.”
Darnold, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Jets back in 2018. He was in the final year of a four-year, $30.370 million rookie contract when he was traded to the Panthers.
Carolina exercised Darnold’s fifth-year option for 2022 after acquiring him from New York. He made a base salary of $18.858 million in 2022 under the option.
Darnold was an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career when he signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the 49ers in 2023. He joined the Vikings this past offseason on another one-year deal.
In 2024, Darnold appeared in all 17 games for the Vikings and completed 66.2 percent of his pass attempts for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He added 67 carries for 212 yards and a touchdown.
We’ll have more on Darnold as the news becomes available.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2025 Free Agents list.
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