Vikings HC Makes Big Announcement on Sam Darnold’s Future

After taking home the award for 2024 AP NFL Coach of the Year on Thursday, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell dropped a big hint on the future of quarterback Sam Darnold. O’Connell earned the top league honor after leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record this season, earning 25 first-place votes to finish just ahead of divisional rival Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions for the top coaching award. Despite the strong season, the Vikings had a disappointing finish with a loss in the wild-card round and an uncertain future for Darnold as he heads to free agency. But O’Connell revealed on Thursday that the team plans to bring back the veteran after his career-best season.

As reporter Dave Birkett noted in a post on X, O’Connell announced that the Vikings are looking forward to another run with Darnold at the helm.

“Kevin O’Connell in his Coach of the Year news conference: Our goal is to win a championship and Sam Darnold is going to be a huge part of it when we do it,” Birkett wrote. “Sure sounds like Vikings want to ride with Darnold next year.”

Darnold is headed to free agency after a season where he posted career-bests in passing yards (4,319), passing touchdowns (35) and completion percentage (66.2). The former first-round pick had bounced around the league before landing in Minnesota was thrust into the starting job after rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury. The Vikings may not simply hand the starting job back to Darnold. McCarthy, a first-round pick last year, has said he wants a shot at winning the starting job this offseason. “All I could ask for is a fair opportunity,” McCarthy said, via Pro Football Talk. “That’s the one thing I feel like everybody’s given and it’s fundamental. When money gets involved, things get complicated and reps get skewed and there’s different things that come into the whole political world that everyone talks about. I have to focus on controlling what I can control. My feelings don’t matter. I’m not getting any grace. There’s no sympathy. This is the big leagues.”