CBS Sports Quarterback Carousel Projects a New Face to Minnesota

While everyone speculates about what the Minnesota Vikings will do with quarterback Sam Darnold as free agency approaches, we should also ponder the question of what happens if Darnold does, in fact, leave. Who would serve as the backup and/or possible “bridge” quarterback to young J.J. McCarthy? There are a few options out there, but one outlet has given us one that you might not have initially thought of.

CBS Sports has put together a bit of a quarterback carousel, projecting what they think teams around the league will do to answer their quarterback questions. They project that Darnold will depart, and that for his next career move he’s going to. . .run it back with the New York Jets?

Yep, here’s what they say about it.

New coach Aaron Glenn saw firsthand in Detroit that a first-round castoff can revive his career with the right support. And Darnold, despite a rough first go with New York, could get a decent check here if Gang Green is unable to leap up from No. 7 overall in the draft for an even younger Aaron Rodgers replacement.

I have to be honest, folks. Darnold is fairly likely to leave this offseason, but I can’t see him going back to New York again, regardless if there’s a new regime in place. He’s already flamed out of there once and I can’t imagine the New York media would be any less harsh on him this time aroud. He’s more likely to end up somewhere like Las Vegas or Cleveland, in my opinion.

The article also predicts that the other current possible option on the Vikings’ roster, Daniel Jones, will also depart in free agency, opting to sign with the Los Angeles Rams.

Matthew Stafford is the unquestioned starter if he returns, but he’s soon to be 37. It’s time Sean McVay gets a younger arm to develop, and he’s embraced reclamation projects before (i.e. Baker Mayfield).

This is something that would make a lot of sense. If Jones doesn’t want to stick around Minnesota as the latest graduate of the Kevin O’Connell School for Quarterbacks Who Can’t Throw Good and Want to Learn to Do Other Stuff Good, Too, there aren’t many better places he could go than to hang out with O’Connell’s former boss. Depending on whether the Rams and Stafford can work out a new deal, he could be in line for playing time sooner rather than later, if that was the case.

So, who does that leave for the Vikings? Well, in this scenario they wind up with a former Super Bowl quarterback. I’m talking, of course, about Jimmy Garoppolo, who finds his way to Minnesota in CBS Sports’ world.

At 33, Garoppolo is older and less explosive than Sam Darnold, the Vikings’ 2024 starter. He’s also likely to come much cheaper, and he played on some big stages under general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah with the San Francisco 49ers. He could be another placeholder until young J.J. McCarthy is ready.

Since leaving San Francisco, Garoppolo has had a bit of a rough go of things. When Brock Purdy emerged for the Niners, Garoppolo took his services to Las Vegas, where he went 3-5 in eight starts and was ultimately benched for Aidan O’Connell. He then moved on to the Rams this past season and, honestly, if the Rams hadn’t benched their starters in Week 18 I wouldn’t have even known that’s where he was. Not sure how fired up I’d get about this if it were to happen.

What do you think of a potential scenario that leaves Jimmy Garoppolo as the backup to J.J. McCarthy here in Minnesota, folks?