Vikings' Sam Darnold talks making first playoff start amid future uncertainty

Minnesota Vikings journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold became a revelation in his first season working under head coach Kevin O'Connell. He will make the first playoff start of his career when 14-3 Minnesota faces the 10-7 Los Angeles Rams at State Farm Stadium in Arizona on Monday night. 

Darnold is on track to reach free agency in March and understands what's at stake regarding his short- and long-term futures. 

"This is the time," Darnold recently said, ESPN's Kevin Seifert shared. "When people — whether guys are in the league for a long time, whether they've been with the same team for a long time, whether they're bouncing around the league — it's kind of where legacies I guess are made. In the playoffs. Not just winning games, but winning those later games, like AFC or NFC championships, Super Bowl. That's how you're going to be remembered at the end of the day."

Darnold signed a one-year deal with Minnesota last offseason and officially became the club's starter after rookie and first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy needed a full meniscus repair in August. According to Pro Football Reference, Darnold finished the regular season ranked fifth in the NFL with 4,319 passing yards, fifth with 35 passing touchdowns and sixth among qualified players with a 102.5 passer rating. 

While Pro Football Talk named Darnold its most improved player for the campaign, he sparked some concerns among Minnesota fans when he completed 18-of-41 passes for 166 yards with no touchdowns in last Sunday's 31-9 loss at the rival Detroit Lions that determined the champions of the NFC North and the No. 1 seed for the NFC portion of the playoffs. 

The Vikings know they can retain Darnold's rights for 2025 via the franchise tag if they don't sign him to a multi-year deal before the new league year opens in March unless they're ultimately fine with letting him reach free agency. While he admitted he was disappointed with how he threw and "located" the ball against Detroit, he expressed confidence in his ability to bounce back from that loss. 

"I think the biggest thing for me is just continuing to make good decisions and being able to, when I do let the ball rip, let it rip with confidence," Darnold added on Thursday. 

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Vikings as 2.5-point favorites over the Rams. Darnold having a poor performance against Los Angeles probably wouldn't scare off every quarterback-needy team, but it could result in Minnesota turning to McCarthy during the offseason.