What do you do in the offseason if you are the Vikings?

[Bump]

Sam Darnold has completely turned his career around in Minnesota. Yes, the Vikings have one of the best receiving corps and a good TE. But it's not like you could just plug in any QB and it will be great.

Sam Darnold signed a 1 year deal worth $10m is what google says. So he will be a free agent.

Should they use the franchise tag on him and try to trade him for a 1st? Or sign him to a contract and make him their starter since he played so well?

What to do with JJ McCarthy, if they go with Sam Darnold, since they drafted him so high? Sam Darnold wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for that injury.

It's a somewhat unusual situation and it's a Chiefs-less weekend so if you are the GM of the Vikings, what do you do?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I said this during the Lions game.

"Coach of the Year, my ass..."

O'Connell left Darnold out there to die in the two biggest games of their season and was THOROUGHLY out-coached in both games.

He'll get his win this year and I hope to never hear his name among the actual championship caliber coaches in the league again. Because he got exposed down the stretch.

There might just be some McDaniel to him. He's a guy who can look awfully sharp when things are going his way but he doesn't seem to have much of a plan when he gets punched in the mouth.

I don’t know, there’s also so many ways you can dress up a pig. It reminds me of when dick vermeil used to gameplan around Jordan black. At some point you’re gonna be exposed. Those runs and quick passes don’t mean shit if your qb can’t prove he can do anything beyond that. It’s a wonder darnold was masked for that long.

I still really like KOC and the takeaway for me is that darnold largely got exposed for who he is. On the one hand KOC probably had an Andy Reid vs anuramo game where darnold should have taken what he was given. On the other hand I don’t think that would have mattered when the qb is that broken. We still have to remember that the Vikings went this far with a backup qb and I think that absolutely deserves coach of the year consideration.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by notorious

If the Vikings want to move him to backup that's fine.

No way in the world should he be starting next year.

Yeah absolutely. But I think he’ll be too expensive even with this disaster. He’s gonna start somewhere. There are a lot of really nice homes for him. Great option for a team like Indy who wants to start proving they can win but have limited options to upgrade past their bad qb. Or a team with an injury prone starter like Miami. Or why not a team like Tennessee or the giants as insurance as they aggressively look for a young qbotf.

I know people expect these guys to be all pro or bust. But there’s a terrific market for a low end starting / high caliber backup. Which I think darnold may have positioned himself that way

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I said this during the Lions game.

"Coach of the Year, my ass..."

O'Connell left Darnold out there to die in the two biggest games of their season and was THOROUGHLY out-coached in both games.

He'll get his win this year and I hope to never hear his name among the actual championship caliber coaches in the league again. Because he got exposed down the stretch.

There might just be some McDaniel to him. He's a guy who can look awfully sharp when things are going his way but he doesn't seem to have much of a plan when he gets punched in the mouth.

QB is everything. Remember in 2017 when we started off so hot with Alex and then by Thanksgiving Andy was fried? He was burnt out and gave Nagy playcalling duties.

He just couldn’t get anything out of Alex anymore. He squeezed that orange completely dry.

I think that’s exactly what’s happened here. The wildcard rd primarily was about defenses getting tape on these middle of the pack QB’s and killing them.

Darnold, Nix, Herbert, Love, Wilson. Just can’t hide these guys forever. Eventually it’s gut check time and plays needs to be made.

There’s a reason McVay traded for Stafford. Shannahan, McDaniels and KOC have been limited by their QB’s the way Andy was for years.

[Mescalito345]

Yes, but Hurts is a very good runner too.

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

That the Vikings won 14 games is some kind of miracle.

The curb stomped the Texans… that was probably their most impressive win.

[Bob Dole]

We’re up to 88 people who think Darnold is worth $40 million a year. I wouldn’t pay him more than $12.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

We’re up to 88 people who think Darnold is worth $40 million a year. I wouldn’t pay him more than $12.

To be fair, a good portion of those people voted before yesterday's game. And I'm assuming that you counted all of the "tag" people, right? Because only 24 people voted to give him a contract, regardless of the steps taken to get to that point.

[St. Patty's Fire]

I don’t think KOC is Reid and he absolutely deserves criticism for his team’s playoff performances, but I still think he’s one of the better coaches in the league. He won 14 games with ****ing Sam Darnold. You can only keep it rolling like that for so long. They have a roster with tons of talent at the skill positions but you don’t win with flashy skill positions players in January. Everywhere else, thery’re just good at best.

[RunKC]

Vikings fans should be extremely encouraged despite the results of this year. They knew Darnold was a bridge QB the moment they drafted McCarthy.

I still believe they’ve got a top coaching staff with KOC/Flores. They have a QB in waiting, their star LT will be back next year and they still have a very talented team.

Only problem they have is draft capital. They’ve only got a 1st and two 5th’s. They’re a strong candidate to trade down and recoup some draft picks.

They might be an ideal trade partner for the Chiefs if we want to move up for someone.

[chagrin]

If they do keep Darnold, they need to provide him with some diapers and perhaps a rubber nipple. Dude shit himself all over the place

[BWillie]

Told ya'll Darnold sucks. The hilarity is that people are enamored by stats. TDs, QB rating, which rarely tells the whole story only part of the story. You need a guy that can make plays on 3rd down and 4th down. So many Vikings fans were blinded by this and thought they had found their knight in shining armor.

But man give McConnell a real QB and that Vikings team could be scary.

[Discuss Thrower]

Well the Vikes will get a comp pick if they let Darnold walk at least.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

To be fair, a good portion of those people voted before yesterday's game. And I'm assuming that you counted all of the "tag" people, right? Because only 24 people voted to give him a contract, regardless of the steps taken to get to that point.

I added all the tag votes. The QB tag salary is probably going to be $40 million, and I don’t think anyone is going to trade for him in that scenario. He’s a backup at this point, and $12 puts him near the top. I think tagging him is going to cost them 40 no matter the condition.

[ThrobProng]

Poll fail, no "Jonestown" option. McCarthy and Darnold both suck.

[Wisconsin_Chief]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

He’s a backup at this point, and $12 puts him near the top. I think tagging him is going to cost them 40 no matter the condition.

Someone is unquestionably going to pay this dude, the guy threw for 4,400 yards, 35 TD and won 14 games. Might not be the Vikings, but I can't see a scenario where he's not starting somewhere next year.

It could be that we finally see that "mid-tier" QB market emerge for guys like him around $25-30 million a year. This whole trend of literally every QB who signs a deal resetting the market needs to stop, and he might be just the guy who kicks it off. There is a world between $50 million to be a subpar starter while crippling your franchise and $10 million to be a backup, and Darnold is exactly who that world is. I'm sure him and his agent will shoot for much more, but I think that's where he's going to land. It's going to be really interesting, maybe will end up changing things for the better.