Tuesday's deadline for NFL teams to utilize the franchise or transition tag came and went, and the Minnesota Vikings ultimately decided not to place either tag on quarterback Sam Darnold, who is currently scheduled to become a free agent next week.
Some members of the Vikings fan base were disappointed that the team was unable to figure out a way to tag and trade Darnold to another organization this offseason, especially since Minnesota currently only has four selections in this year's NFL Draft.
Following some of the negative reactions to the reports about the Vikings not tagging Darnold, NFL agent Blake Baratz shared a post on social media that attempted to explain why the team likely chose not to place the tag on the veteran quarterback.
"When you tag him, the entire $41M counts against the cap. You cannot use that to sign other players. In addition, he controls the cards of where he goes. In addition, every team knows they have zero intention or desire to have him play on the tag, so you actually lose trade value. The comp pick next year can very well exceed the trade value. We are talking about maybe 2-3 trade partners. It is actually a substantial risk."
Minnesota Vikings made the right decision not to place the franchise tag on Sam Darnold
Baratz is the president and founder of IFA, a Minnesota-based sports management firm that represents a number of notable players around the NFL, including Adam Thielen, C.J. Ham, Jonathan Allen, and more.
He has an extensive amount of experience with situations similar to what Darnold is currently dealing with, so he knows that the reason why the Vikings didn't use the tag on him is likely a lot more complex than most probably realize.
Currently, Minnesota is projected to have a little more than $62.8 million in cap space this offseason, according to OverTheCap.com. If the Vikings opted to place the franchise tag on Darnold, that cap number would drop to $23.5 million, and that's clearly an amount that Minnesota didn't want to begin free agency with
The Vikings likely went into last week's NFL Scouting Combine with the hope to leave the event with an agreement with another team to trade for Darnold if they tagged him. But it seems like the interest in the Pro Bowl quarterback from around the league wasn't as high as Minnesota might have anticipated.
To be fair, Darnold has been in the NFL for seven seasons, and the 2024 campaign was the first good season of his pro career. So, it's completely understandable that teams weren't chomping at the bit to not only give up draft assets to acquire the quarterback, but also be willing to sign him to a lucrative multi-year contract after landing him.
Darnold should still have plenty of interest from around the league when free agency begins next week, especially since teams will no longer have to potentially fork over draft assets to add him to their roster.