The Minnesota Vikings have a couple of big decisions to make at quarterback in the offseason, namely whether they want to march forward with Sam Darnold or J.J. McCarthy as the future. Minnesota can bring Darnold back by way of a multi-season extension, which would run them in the range of $35.5 million annually over a four-year deal, per Spotrac’s latest projections. That number is likely only to go up if the Vikings make any noise in the playoffs. However, such a contract for a player like Darnold isn’t that scary if the franchise believes his 2024 production is sustainable over several seasons. Considering Darnold is just 27 years old and head coach Kevin O’Connell’s system is a huge part of the QB’s newfound success, there aren’t many reasons to believe Darnold can’t remain this good well into his 30s.
Minnesota can also use the franchise tag and keep Darnold for just north of $41 million in 2025 and run it back. In this scenario, the Vikings would probably keep McCarthy on the team for at least another year and weigh options. Under the former set of circumstances, in which the Vikings extend Darnold long-term, the franchise could decide to shop McCarthy — who turns 22 years old later this month — coming off of a rookie season in which he didn’t take a single regular season snap.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Wednesday, Jan. 1, that teams are certain to reach out to the Vikings with interest and potential offers for McCarthy.
“In a limited quarterback draft class where there are far more teams that need quarterbacks than quarterbacks who actually can step in right away, I definitely think teams will be checking in with the Vikings to see if they have any interest in trading J.J. McCarthy,” Schefter said.
He added that Minnesota will be able to get back greater value than the No. 10 overall pick they invested in the QB last April. “J.J. McCarthy would have been a top, if not the top, quarterback prospect in this draft. And yes, he’s coming off the [knee injury], so what? It doesn’t really matter,” Schefter continued. “And if the Vikings decided that they wanted to trade him, which I don’t know if they will, I believe they would get back everything they put into him and then some. It would be a [first-round pick] and then some.”
