The Minnesota Vikings are on the cusp of a decision at quarterback that will define the franchise for the remainder of the decade, but one insider believes the call is simple.

The Minnesota Vikings are on the cusp of a decision at quarterback that will define the franchise for the remainder of the decade, but one insider believes the call is simple.

Mina Kimes of ESPN asserted on Wednesday, February 19, that Minnesota should let quarterback Sam Darnold leave in free agency and spend its money instead on an interior offensive lineman to protect second-year signal caller J.J. McCarthy moving forward. Her suggestion was guard Trey Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs, a two-time Super Bowl champion and 2024 Pro Bowler.

“[Darnold] is gonna cost way more than Trey Smith, which is hilarious because one player is obviously near the top of the position, one is not,” Kimes said. “I’m pretty sure if I’m the Vikings, I’d rather pay Trey Smith.”

Kimes added that Smith is likely going to set the market at the position and earn north of $20 million annually ($100 million total), on what would have to be a five-year contract. The former sixth-round pick out of Tennessee has made just under $6.6 million in his career to this point and is in line for a significant pay bump

While paying Smith would be a major investment in Minnesota, doing so would cost potentially just 50% annually of what Darnold might command as a free agent. Spotrac projects the QB’s market value at $160 million over a new four-year agreement.

The Vikings have enough cap space in 2025 — currently projected at $59.5 million and likely to jump massively when the NFL officially increases its salary cap by $22-$26 million for each team in the coming weeks — to do pretty much whatever they want.

The rub is that letting Darnold go could bite them after he led the team to 14 wins on the strength of 4,300 passing yards and 35 TDs, while McCarthy missed the entirety of his rookie season because of a knee injury he suffered last August.

But going with McCarthy, who is on a relatively inexpensive rookie contract over the next three or four years, will allow Minnesota to spend its massive amount of cap space and limited draft resources on building around him.