Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Send Sam Darnold Parting and bold Message

Home Kansas City Favorites Customer Service Stay Connected Read today’s Edition Obituaries Video Local Events News Sports Opinion Business Living & Entertainment Featured Reality Check Uniquely Detour Travel Kansas City Favorites Guides Shopping/Reviews Deals & Offers Careers and Education Special Features Press Releases Sponsored Content Classifieds Place an Ad – Celebrations Search Jobs Search Legal Notices Advertising SPORTS Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Send Sam Darnold Parting Message By Trevor Squire Athlon Sports Updated February 13, 2025 7:08 AM The Minnesota Vikings quarterback dilemma with Sam Darnold is a familiar situation that played out last season with Kirk Cousins. Cousins was considered the top free-agent quarterback available and was expected to garner a competitive market to re-sign him. The same is being said about Darnold, who threw for 4,319 yards passing and 35 touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl and a 14-win regular season. There is potential that Minnesota would want him back on a short-term contract as J.J. McCarthy is waiting in the wing. The franchise tag has remained a topic of conversation surrounding the Vikings’ quarterback future and an option to keep Darnold under team control. However, the franchise tag seems like a foregone conclusion. Head coach Kevin O’Connell made his media rounds after winning the NFL’s Coach of the Year award and made a statement indicating that the decision will be left up to Darnold and they will not use the franchise tag. “Kevin O’Connell told us Sam Darnold has earned the right to be a free agent,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said Feb. 12 on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “That’s a way of saying we’re not going to use the franchise tag because we don’t want to pay him 40 million. “I think they’d be willing to keep him if he goes out and exhausts his options elsewhere, decides that he’d rather come back to Minnesota for less than what he could get elsewhere.” While Darnold’s final two games, a pivotal Week 18 loss with the Detroit Lions that determined the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, and a first-round exit against the Los Angeles Rams may have tainted his otherwise stunning season, Florio is convinced that plenty of teams will want the 27-year-old quarterback. Related: Vikings Land What Every Fan Wants for J.J. McCarthy in Latest Mock Draft “You got a team that would love to have a guy that won 14 games last year regardless of the 58-18 final score of the two games at the end of the season, sparked by Darnold getting an unexpected case of the yips,” Florio said. “The Raiders would love to have that problem, they got a guy who’s going to win a bunch fo regular-season games. “When you look around the league at the teams that are looking, I think Darnold becomes an attractive name.”