Ever since the Minnesota Vikings saw their 2024 season come to an end in the first round of the playoffs, many have wondered what the team intends to do with quarterback Sam Darnold this offseason.
Darnold will be a free agent in March, and despite leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024, a return to the team for another season is far from a guarantee thanks to Minnesota selecting former Michigan passer J.J. McCarthy in the first round of last year's NFL Draft.
We might have been given some answers on Thursday, however, as Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell made some comments during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show" that seemed to give away what the team is planning to do at the quarterback position for the 2025 campaign.
"The idea is this. We're evaluating how we're going to move forward and put the best possible team together in 2025 and beyond.
We know we're excited about J.J. McCarthy. He confirmed a lot of the things, in a very short amount of time, that we had hoped to see from him before unfortunately getting hurt.
Then Sam took advantage of his opportunity and has really put himself as probably the premier player at the [quarterback] position going into free agency. Sam's going to have some opportunities."
Moving on from Sam Darnold appears to be what the Minnesota Vikings intend to do this offseason
For context, O'Connell's response came after he was asked if he plans on Darnold being with the Vikings next season.
So, for the Minnesota head coach to talk about how excited he is about McCarthy and how Darnold should be the top signal-caller in free agency this year, it seems pretty clear what the team's plan is at the quarterback position.
The plan before Darnold went out and had an impressive 2024 season was to make McCarthy the team's starter for the 2025 campaign, and that appears to still be the plan.
O'Connell wasn't going to come out and just say whether the Vikings are going to move on from Darnold this year or not. But he's also someone who chooses his words carefully, and with these latest comments, he seems to reveal that Minnesota is moving forward with McCarthy as the team's new starting quarterback.