NFL Exec: Talking Heads Do Not Understand How Much Vikings Love JJ McCarthy
Kevin O’Connell’s 2024 squad wasn’t supposed to be good. In the preseason, the Minnesota Vikings were picked to finish at the bottom of the NFC North division by every media outlet offering predictions, projections or odds.
Fast-forward a few months, the Vikings have posted 11 wins through their first 13 games, good enough to have already claimed a 2024 playoff spot. and there are still plenty of doubters out there. Monday night vs the Chicago Bears, they’ll have yet another opportunity to quiet those non-believers, yet again.
If the Vikings can win their sixth-straight game tonight (they are -7 point favorites vs Bears), they’d join the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles at 12-2, atop the NFC. There are only three games remaining in the regular season.
Of course, it’s the emergence of Sam Darnold that has pushed the 2024 Minnesota Vikings over the top. He’s a top 5 MVP candidate who has thrown for 3,299 yards, 28 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions, to go with a career-best 68.4% completion percentage.
Minnesota Vikings still in love with JJ McCarthy
Naturally, national media outlets look at Darnold’s expiring contract and immediately jump to ‘the Vikings have to re-sign him’ conversations. But when insiders call around, it becomes pretty clear Darnold remains outside Minnesota’s plans, beyond 2024 and the postseason run that follows.
Why? JJ McCarthy, that’s why. According to what what one “anonymous NFL exec” told insider Mike Sando (The Athletic), the Vikings are not interested in another year with Sam Darnold at the helm because the head coach QB guru and his general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are still in love with Michigan man, JJ McCarthy.
“McCarthy is their guy. The talking heads think they are crazy to let Darnold go, but they don’t have the same conviction on McCarthy as the Vikings do.”
Anonymous NFL executive (The Athletic)
Minnesota signed Sam Darnold to a $10 million bridge QB deal, and they haven’t budged on that. He was offered the opportunity to benefit from O’Connell’s coaching, and parlay it into a 2nd chance as an NFL starter. He has taken advantage by posting one of the best seasons of any QB in the league.
DARNOLD JETTAS 52-YARD TD 🚨
— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2024
📺: #ATLvsMIN on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/ZywUjIuoD4
The Vikings’ response: ‘Great job, now there is the door, kid. Good luck out there.’ It’s true, Darnold has played otherworldly, but national pundits around the league aren’t seeing the bigger picture as clearly as we are locally.
No matter how this season turned out, this was almost guaranteed to be a one-year relationship between the Vikings and Sam Darnold… no matter how well the former No. 3 pick out of USC plays. Remember, re-signing Sam would mean considerably less time and less development for their own No. 10 overall pick last offseason, and that’s not a risk they are willing to take.
Vikings believe in Kevin O’Connell
O’Connell would rather risk losing whatever Sam Darnold would have become, with more time in his system, than risk losing another year of development for JJ McCarthy. Vikings ownership is 100% bought into JJ McCarthy… because they have 110% faith in their head coach; for good reason, too.
No one, coming into the year, was calling for a Sam Darnold top 5 MVP season. Now, with near 15 weeks inthe 2024 books, that is the reality. Last year, prior to getting hurt, Kirk Cousins was on the same track. KOC even made an emergency Josh Dobbs into a one-month NFL sensation.
Related: Sounds Like Kirk Cousins New Teammates are Ready to Move on Already
Hell, Nick Mullens looks serviceable every time he is forced into action. The common denominator? Kevin O’Connell. The Minnesota Vikings would rather invest in O’Connell raising their next QB from scratch, than a rehabilitated once-broken one. Letting Darnold walk is a “In O’Connell We Trust” move.
JJ McCarthy led the Big Ten with a 72.3% completion rate, in 2023, to go with 22 touchdown passes and only 4 interceptions, in Jim Harbaugh’s run-heavy Michigan offense. He also led the conference with a 167.4 passer efficiency rating.
Wake up, babe.
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) December 16, 2024
It’s gameday and a new JJ McCarthy hype vid just dropped. https://t.co/5KSXgt21Ps pic.twitter.com/1BFMY5SufJ
O’Connell has already proven himself as the next great offensive play-caller and QB whisperer. Not only that, but quarterbacking the Minnesota Vikings also means throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, even before any moves are made next offseason. KOC and Kwesi want J.J. McCarthy to benefit from all those same weapons.
Minnesota Vikings’ QB plans remain unchanged
By letting Cousins walk, signing Darnold on the cheap and drafting McCarthy, the Vikings found themselves with excess funds last offseason, for the first time in a while. As a result, extensions for stars like Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw hit the books without any salary cap consternation.
They even had extra dollars, at the end of training camp, to sign CB Stephon Gilmore, and could still fill more holes, prior to the NFL trade deadline. Keeping Darnold around would kill a lot of that flexibility for next season.
Related: Stephon Gilmore Injury Update: Minnesota Vikings CB1 Could Play vs Bears
It would also foil the Vikings’ development plan for JJ McCarthy and contradict what Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been working toward, since he was hired. That’s to build a really good football team around a cheap, developing 1st round quarterback.
At 27-years-old, Sam Darnold is young. But after being an MVP candidate, he won’t be cheap. Most likely, Darnold will sign for over $100 million guaranteed this offseason… just not with the Vikings.
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