By throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns during the 2024 NFL season as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, Sam Darnold earned himself an opportunity to cash in during free agency later this year for the first time in his pro career.
Despite Darnold's much-improved performance in 2024, FS1 analyst and former Green Bay Packers receiver James Jones shared that he still isn't convinced that the veteran quarterback is deserving of a big pay raise this offseason.
During a recent discussion on FS1's "The Facility" about Darnold and fellow free-agent signal-caller Russell Wilson, Jones suggested that both players should be paid lower than what their market value is currently believed to be.
"I think both these dudes should be paid at [$20 million per year] and under. I don't know what dudes are making [$20 million] and under, but I think that should be the number [or] $25 million a year.
I don't care nothing about none of the salary cap whatever, that is what [their] play has earned. Forget talking about [what the market dictates]. That is what their play has earned.
I'm sure we can sit up here and we can name 15 quarterbacks right now better than Russell Wilson and Sam Darnold. We can. Pay them accordingly and go win."
Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold will definitely be making more than $25 million in 2025
Jones mainly pointed to Darnold's disappointing performances in Minnesota's final two games of the season against the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles as a reason why he doesn't deserve to make more than $25 million per year from his next contract.
That's completely fair, but it also seems pretty crazy to ignore how the Vikings quarterback played in the team's other 16 games this season, especially since Minnesota had a 14-2 record in those matchups.
In 2024, Darnold proved that when he's not with a dumpster-fire organization like the New York Jets or the Carolina Panthers who want him to put the entire team on his back and be the savior of the franchise, he can perform at a high level.
With this in mind, there are likely going to be multiple organizations with an interest in signing him this offseason. When multiple teams are in the mix, that usually means the cost of landing him will go to the highest bidder.
So, it is totally possible that a team interested in Darnold actually agrees with Jones and believes the quarterback is only worth $20 million or $25 million per season. But if that team wants to be where Darnold chooses to play this year, then they will have to be willing to present an offer that allows the veteran signal-caller to probably make around $35 million or $40 million per season.
In his final two meaningful starts of the 2024 campaign in a loss to the Vikings in Week 17 and a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs, Packers quarterback Jordan Love put together two of his worst starts of the season.
Does Jones believe Love should only make $25 million in 2025 after he performed poorly in the losses to Minnesota and Philadelphia or should he continue forward with the $55 million average that he currently makes per season after signing an extension last year?
I think we already know the answer to that question.