Vikings Not Ruling Out Offering Sam Darnold New Contract This Offseason

Seifert notes it remains to be seen how much the Vikings’ offer would be for Darnold compared to another quarterback-needy team this offseason, but he points out Minnesota is not closing itself off to any options right now. 

Conventional wisdom suggests the Vikings wouldn’t want to commit too much to Darnold after drafting first-round QB J.J. McCarthy this past spring, while Darnold would seemingly want to land somewhere with more long-term security.

The Vikings have not had any talks with Darnold about a long-term deal this year despite his breakout season. They signed former Giants QB Daniel Jones after he was cut by New York and he’s an option to take Darnold’s role in 2025 as veteran insurance for McCarthy. 

Darnold, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Jets back in 2018. He was in the final year of a four-year, $30.370 million rookie contract when he was traded to the Panthers. 

Carolina exercised Darnold’s fifth-year option for 2022 after acquiring him from New York. He made a base salary of $18.858 million in 2022 under the option. 

Darnold was an unrestricted free agent for the first time this offseason when he signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the 49ers. He joined the Vikings this past offseason on another one-year deal. 

In 2024, Darnold has appeared in 12 games for the Vikings and completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,952 yards, 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

We’ll have more on Darnold and the Vikings as the news is available.