Latest Sam Darnold Rumors Trending the Wrong Way for Minnesota Vikings…

Sam Darnold is the first offseason domino that the Minnesota Vikings need to tip over, before any other offseason answers can tumble into place for the 2025 season. Luckily, the wait won’t be much longer. The NFL franchise tag deadline is this coming Tuesday, March 4.

This week, the football world has gathered in Indianapolis for the annual NFL Combine, an event that has become notorious for spandex, rumors and league drama. But most importantly, the combine has become a default early offseason meeting place where all 32 NFL teams can gain insight on rival plans and organize their own, before free agency (March 12) and the draft (April 24).

2025 NFL Combine means QB clarity for Minnesota Vikings

For the Vikings, the this week in Indy represented answers to their biggest question. How does the offseason market view Sam Darnold? If his trade market felt like it would be robust, they were hoping to discuss possible tag and trade scenarios with interested teams. If not, most expect the Vikings to let their 2024 MVP candidate walk to free agency, so they can officially begin the JJ McCarthy era in Minnesota.

Before the combine, however, a narrative had already started forming around the MN Vikings’ plans for Darnold. Most local and national reports, as recently as last week, were pushing the idea that tagging Darnold was too risky. That there was no guarantee of Darnold trade market that would make that tag worth it.

The Vikings still have all options available when it comes to Darnold. They could sign him to a multiyear extension. Unlikely. They could franchise-tag him. Possible. They could allow him to depart via free agency. Most likely. Whether or not the franchise tag becomes an option depends on whether another team would be willing to trade for Darnold.

That’s the question: Does that team exist?

Alec Lewis – The Athletic

Franchise tagging Sam Darnold runs the risk of being stuck with him and his $40M+ cap hit in 2025. That’s not the best problem to have if Kevin O’Connell wants to move on to JJ McCarthy. It was this runaway narrative that caused me to write about the half-dozen quarterbacks traded over the last decade, who have garnered a 1st round pick or more in return, for the team trading the.

Related: Shedeur Sanders Sending Not So Subtle Signal to Minnesota Vikings at NFL Combine

Those 1st round compensation QBs include happy-ending massage enthusiast (allegedly) Deshaun Watson (2022), a broken Carson Wentz (2021), an over-the-hill Russell Wilson (2022) and degenerative knees Sam Bradford (2016), among others. If the Minnesota Vikings let Sam Darnold walk for nothing more than a 2026 3rd round comp pick, I wrote, it should be considered “organizational malpractice”.

Sam Darnold market revealing itself at NFL Combine…?

After reports ping ponged back and forth early this week, with some insiders spreading word that the Vikings were looking to tag and trade Darnold, while others stayed with the pre-combine narrative… it appears the final feeling coming out of the NFL combine on Friday is very similar to what it was last week, prior to everyone emerging on Indy.

The MN Vikings are afraid to franchise tag Sam Darnold, because they are not confident in his market. If that’s the decision they make, March 4 will come and go without any news and Darnold will be free to negotiate with other teams when the legal tampering period begins on March 10.

“The Vikings do not anticipate tagging Sam Darnold” ahead of the tag deadline on March 4th and will let him test free agency according to @Andrew_Krammer on his guest appearance of Vikings Happy Hour

Full episode: https://t.co/DKryKyea8Z pic.twitter.com/KmnwBJXfw1

— Matt Anderson (@MattAnderson_8) February 28, 2025

If the Raiders don’t land Stafford, it’s unlikely that they’ll make a large financial commitment to another veteran quarterback who’s expected to be available this offseason, according to league sources. Las Vegas has three quarterbacks on its roster — Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew and Carter Bradley — but none of them have proven themselves to be a viable starter.

Dianna Russini – The Athletic

This entire situation has made me incredibly skeptical of whether or not Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is capable of running an NFL front office. There are already all sorts of questions surrounding his talent as an evaluator, and he’s struggled to come out ahead in trade calculations for Dallas Turner, and other maneuvering he has done during the draft.

MN Vikings cannot extend Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

At this point, it seems very possible that Kwesi is not a good negotiator, and does not understand the nuances and value of dictating the narrative that is running through insider circles. If he can’t sit down in a room with opposing NFL decision makers and regularly win in negotiations… then why do the Minnesota Vikings have him in that role?

The rumors and reports surrounding Darnold, since before the offseason ended, have been controlled by other teams and those inside Sam Darnold’s circle. As you can see from a recent Alec Lewis report below, those inside the Vikings organization haven’t even been trying to sell other teams on Darnold being worth anything.

Kwesi couldn't sell water in a desert lol pic.twitter.com/8amCjwcbSj

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 28, 2025

Then, when it came time to sit down with front office leaders, Kwesi couldn’t flip the script, then evacuated Indianapolis early due to a mysterious illness. Say it with me: ‘Organizational Malpractice’.