While Chiefs and Eagles fans prepare for Super Bowl LIX, 30 other fanbases — including Minnesota Vikings fans — await the start of the 2025 NFL offseason. Sure, the league calendar doesn’t flip to 2025 until March 12. We do not know what will happen between now and then.
But by the time the new league year stars, the franchise tag deadline will have passed and we will know whether or not Darnold is hitting free agency. Until then, all we can do is hypothesize on the Vikings’ immediate QB future.
And with Super Bowl festivities taking place in New Orleans this week, questions surrounding the Vikings’ questions at quarterback are flying into some pretty awkward public conversations about whether or not Minnesota will re-sign, franchise tag or let Sam Darnold walk into free agency.
Justin Jefferson expects Sam Darnold back with Minnesota Vikings?
Like on Wednesday, when Justin Jefferson was asked to weigh in on the Sam Darnold vs JJ McCarthy debate during an interview with Yahoo Sports. Jefferson talked up his future franchise QB a bit, noting that he’s confident in the quarterback McCarthy will become.
But in somewhat surprising fashion, the superstar wideout went on to tell Yahoo Sports that he gets the feeling Sam Darnold is coming back for 2025. He quickly notes that, “I’m not sure though, so don’t take my word for it”, before he ends with, “it will be good to have him back and to build, and to just see where it goes”.
“[Sam Darnold] being in there the whole season this past year, having fourteen wins, bringing us to the playoffs. That just doesn’t happen overnight. You don’t just get a quarterback off the couch and he just come and win 14 games for you. You definitely have to keep that in the back of your mind also.
I mean, I feel like we’re gonna bring Sam back. I’m not sure though, so don’t take my words for it. But I mean, I think it’ll be good to have him back to build, you know, to see where it goes. But I definitely think JJ is going to have his opportunity and… you know… year, I don’t know hahaha.”
What does this mean?
So, is Sam Darnold coming back? Justin Jefferson sure seems to indicate as much. But it is important to remember that the Minnesota Vikings benefit if other teams believe they want to keep Sam Darnold in Eagan. They do not want the rest of the league to know that, if they bring him back, it might be only for trade purposes.
Jefferson does his best to flirt that line of not offending either McCarthy or Darnold, but clearly trusts what he build with Sam in year one. Is that playing into his answer, or does he know something we don’t? Or… could he be bluffing because that’s what higher ups in the Vikings organization recommended he do? Only time will tell.
Timeline for a MN Vikings decision on Sam Darnold?
Starting February 18, teams can designate the franchise tag onto qualified pending free agents they don’t want to lose. That is important for Vikings fans who wonder whether or not their favorite football team will bring Sam Darnold back as their quarterback in 2025.
Then, in two weeks (Feb 24-Mar 3), it’s the NFL Scouting combine in Indianapolis, where top NFL executives, coaches, insiders and college prospects will gather to evaluate this year’s crop of draft talent up close and personal.
But these days, the NFL scouting combine has become more about NFL reporters and insiders trying to get the juiciest offseason scoop amongst their peers than it is draft day scouting. Why? Because the combine is the only place where media members get multiple days/nights to mingle, dine and drink with the league’s most influential decision makers.
By the time all those hungover reporters and league executives fly out of Indy covered in secrets axe spray and guilt layers of deodorant in the first week of March, we’ll be just days away from the start of the league year and the opening bell of free agency.
