Trading for Sam Darnold is not something the Vikings should consider
By Adam Patrick
The Minnesota Vikings could use a better backup quarterback than Sean Mannion, but a trade with the Carolina Panthers for Sam Darnold won’t solve anything.
Following the trade that saw the Cleveland Browns send quarterback Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday, KFAN’s Paul Charchian declared on Twitter that the Minnesota Vikings should make a deal for the Panthers’ 2021 starting signal-caller, Sam Darnold.
Panthers traded for Baker Mayfield because they believe he's better than Sam Darnold. Since Mayfield was worth a 5th, the Vikings should offer a 6th for Darnold, as a far better backup option than Sean Mannion.
— Paul Charchian (@PaulCharchian) July 7, 2022
People replying to Charchian’s tweet were quick to point out that the Vikings, who currently have just under $11 million in cap space, can’t even afford the fully guaranteed $18.9 million that Darnold is set to earn this year.
Not having enough money to take on Darnold’s contract is the easy answer to why Minnesota shouldn’t acquire the young quarterback. But there are more reasons why the Vikings should stay away from Darnold too.
There is no upside to the Minnesota Vikings making a trade for Carolina Panthers QB Sam Darnold
Even though Carolina is likely going to be looking for a way to move on from Darnold before the start of the 2022 season, Minnesota should not be one of the teams interested in adding him to their roster.
Aside from his ludicrous contract, Darnold just hasn’t been that good during his four years in the NFL. One could argue that he hasn’t had much talent to work with during his time with the Panthers and the New York Jets. But Darnold hasn’t really shown an ounce of promise during his time in the league.
In 12 games with Carolina last season, he completed just 59.9 percent of his passes for 2,527 yards, nine touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. For a guy that was selected in the 2018 NFL Draft with the No. 3 pick, he hasn’t come anywhere close to living up to his expectations in the league.
So for those like Charchian who believe that Darnold would be a better backup option behind Kirk Cousins than Sean Mannion, what exactly has Darnold done during his career to make anyone reach this conclusion?
Mannion is probably the worst backup signal-caller in the NFL, but Darnold hasn’t done anything out on the field during his time in the league to prove that he can be any better.
We discussed why the Vikings should hold onto their future draft picks and not trade for Darnold as well as some other Vikings-related topics on the latest episode of “The Viking Age Podcast”.
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