Nothing has gone precisely to plan for the Minnesota Vikings under center this offseason, which could set the stage for a league-shifting move less than seven months from now.
That move would be the signing of Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowler Dak Prescott to the massive multiyear contract that owner Jerry Jones is apparently unwilling to fork over.
If Prescott gets to unrestricted free agency following this season he will have several suitors across the league, and fans should fully expect the Vikings to be among them unless something miraculous develops in Minnesota over the next 18 weeks.
Sam Darnold is the Vikings' starter on a one-year deal in what is probably his last chance to prove to the NFL at large that he is, in fact, a starting-caliber quarterback. Darnold was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft and has been a certified bust over the six years since.
Seth Walder of ESPN predicted on Monday, September 2, that Darnold will produce the best year of playing career with the weapons he has around him in Minnesota, but that it won't be enough to put the Vikings over the top or keep Darnold in the starting job in 2025.
"Darnold's seventh season will not be the charm. Not really, anyway," Walder wrote. "Darnold will finish higher in QBR than he ever has before when qualifying (25th), but won't crack the top 20 in the metric. While playing in the [Kevin] O'Connell offense will help Darnold's numbers, his weak track record is simply too long."
With J.J. McCarthy out for the season with a torn meniscus, the Vikings are liable to head into March of next year without any real answers at quarterback and coming off of two consecutive losing seasons. That will unquestionably put O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on respective hot seats.
If the Vikings aren't bad enough to earn a top-five pick, team brass will either have to bet their careers on a second-year QB in McCarthy with no regular-season experience, or they will be forced to find a more immediate answer in free agency.
There won't be any answer superior to Prescott, assuming he makes it to the market. The Cowboys QB is playing on the final year of a four-year, $160 million contract and his market value projection is $55.1 million annually over each of the following four seasons, per Spotrac.
