Imagine being in a relationship like the one between Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings.
For the purposes of this exercise, let’s say your name is, uh, Dam Sarnold.
You’re 27 years old now. You had your glory days at Southern California; you bounced around from New York to Carolina to San Francisco, and now you’re starting to think about settling down.
If only it were so simple. You can’t just snap your fingers and find The One.
Then the Vikings give you a call.
Here’s the deal. We can help each other out.
We’ll give you $10 million for one year. We’ll give you the starting quarterback job to begin the season. We’ll surround you with talented playmakers such as Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Aaron Jones, and we’ll put you behind a good offensive line led by Christian Darrisaw.
Just don’t get all lovey-dovey on us, OK?
Because a year from now, we hope you’re gone. We hope you have a great year, we hope we win a lot of games together, and we hope you parlay that into a long-term contract with Some Other Team where you can spend multiple seasons and make gobs and gobs of money.
It’s no secret that J.J. McCarthy is the Vikings’ quarterback of the future. The team drafted him at No. 10 overall out of Michigan and signed him to a four-year, $21.8 million rookie contract with a $12.7 million signing bonus.
McCarthy had an impressive start to training camp but expected to sit behind Darnold to start the season. The general sentiment was that Darnold would start the first six or eight or 10 games—whatever it took—while McCarthy gained valuable reps behind the scenes.
That plan suddenly changed when McCarthy tore his meniscus and required season-ending surgery. Instead of waiting until midseason to take the wheel as the Vikings’ No. 1 quarterback, McCarthy will wait until 2025.
Which brings us back to Darnold.
It’s Sam’s show in Minnesota now. The Vikings have some depth at quarterback with Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall, but Darnold has a clear path to start the entire season barring injuries or inconsistency.
It’s an incredible opportunity for Darnold to resurrect his career.
We all know how Darnold’s tenure went with the Jets. He started 38 games, posted a 13-25 record and threw almost as many interceptions (39) as he did touchdown passes (45). His passer rating was a blah 78.6.
The Jets flipped Darnold to the Panthers, where he made 11 starts in 2021 and six starts in 2022. Carolina went 8-9 in those games, and he threw exactly as many interceptions (16) as he did touchdown passes (16).
Last season, Darnold served as the backup with the 49ers, and he barely touched the field. He made one start, and he finished the season with 297 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Now comes the turning point that will make or break Darnold.
On paper, he hasn’t proved to be an attractive No. 1 quarterback. But coaches still love his potential—remember, he was the No. 3 overall pick in 2018—and at age 27, he still has a chance to rewrite his NFL narrative.
Need proof that it could happen?
See: Mayfield, Baker.
Just a couple seasons ago, Mayfield’s career was circling the drain. The Cleveland Browns moved on from him, not unlike how the Jets moved on from Darnold.
Mayfield went to Carolina—Darnold’s team at the time—and sputtered for six starts before the Panthers cut him. The Los Angeles Rams tossed him a life raft, claiming him off waivers, and he won one of four starts there.
Last offseason, the Buccaneers called Mayfield. It was not unlike the Vikings’ call to Darnold this offseason.
One year, Baker. We’ll pay you $4 million and give you a chance to totally redeem yourself. What do you say?
Mayfield took the deal, and he took advantage.
One successful season later, Tampa Bay signed Mayfield to a three-year, $100 million contract worth up to $115 million in incentives. The contract included $50 million guaranteed.
A year ago, nobody would have predicted Mayfield would sign that type of deal.
Now, it’s Darnold’s opportunity.
Will this season be the springboard for him to sign a massive deal with a QB-needy team? Or will he struggle once again and be typecast as a backup?
The Vikings hope he crushes it.
Then they hope he finds true happiness… somewhere else.
