NFL Makes Major And Brutal Announcement on Vikings QB Sam Darnold

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold was an afterthought heading into last offseason, but he’s now a central domino in how the next few months play out across the NFL.

That is, in large part, due to the monster season he produced (4,300 yards passing and 35 touchdowns) and the reverberations of that performance when it comes to Minnesota’s plans moving forward, the free agent market, the upcoming draft and potentially even the trade market.

Darnold was the subject of a major announcement on Friday, January 24, involving the league and its end-of-season awards. The Pro Football Writers of America, all of the members of which are accredited by the NFL, voted Darnold as the Most Improved Player of the Year.

“Vikings QB Sam Darnold is the PFWA’s 2024 Most Improved Player of the Year,” Emily Leiker of the Star Tribune reported Friday via X.

That distinction adds another layer to the debate surrounding Darnold and his value, both to the Vikings and elsewhere, as the offseason approaches.

There are several ways one can gauge Darnold’s value. The first and simplest way is to examine his contract projections.

The low end of the spectrum has Darnold worth around $100 million over three years, which is more or less what the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently paid QBs Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield, respectively.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) gauged Darnold’s value a bit higher than that at approximately $120 million over three years. Meanwhile, Spotrac projects the Vikings quarterback could garner as much as $160 million over a new four-year deal if he hits free agency in mid-March.

Part of the reason for that is Darnold’s performance in 2024 as well as his age of just 27 years. The other element is how weak the free agent and draft classes are under center this offseason.