
The Minnesota Vikings’ surprise season imploded in the final two weeks of the season and playoffs, losing to the Detroit Lions in the season finale to become the first 14-win wild card team in NFL history before falling flat in the playoffs.
In the wild card round, the Vikings were defeated 29-7 by the Los Angeles Rams, ushering in a long and uncertain offseason. The most important of these is the future of quarterback Sam Darnold, who took over for injured rookie J.J. McCarthy and had his greatest season to date.
Darnold’s one-year contract is up, but ESPN’s Benjamin Solak believes the Vikings would make a significant financial commitment to the experienced quarterback and consider trading McCarthy to one of the NFL’s QB-hungry clubs.
“I really, truly believe the Vikings will extend Darnold,” Solak stated in an email. “They have room for something in the Daniel Jones range–four years, $160 million is probably ideal if they can get Darnold to sign before another club offers him a mega-deal. Depending on the amount of the contract, they’ll either keep McCarthy or surreptitiously trade him ahead of a weak QB draft class, hoping a desperate team bites.”
Giving Darnold a new contract would be a significant move for the Vikings, who used the No. 10 overall pick last season to acquire McCarthy. His budget number for the upcoming season is less than $5 million, allowing the Vikings the flexibility to build up the squad in other areas if they go with the 22-year-old signal-caller over Darnold.
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