One of the most fascinating storylines entering the opening round of the NFL playoffs is the Minnesota Vikings quarterback situation.
Starter Sam Darnold earned his first Pro Bowl nod thanks to a resurgent 2024 season under head coach Kevin O’Connell. Entering last week’s regular season finale, there was serious momentum behind Darnold sticking in Minnesota in 2025 and potentially well beyond.
But that regular season finale was an absolute disaster. Facing the division rival Detroit Lions at Ford Field with the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed on the line, Darnold wilted with easily his worst game as a Viking. He completed just 43.9% of his passes for 166 yards and a woeful QB rating of 55.5. Minnesota was blown out, 31-9, and will thus be on the road to face the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams in Monday night’s wild-card playoff game.
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Darnold’s poor performance in the biggest game of the year has shifted the narrative. If he and the Vikings go from 14-2 entering Week 18, to one-and-done in the NFL playoffs, would the team really commit to the 27-year-old journeyman QB, with recent No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy on the roster and waiting in the wings?
NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. dropped an eye-opening take on a recent episode of Unsportsmanlike on ESPN Radio. Kiper revealed that McCarthy would be his No. 1 graded quarterback in the 2025 draft class, and if he were a QB-needy team like the New York Giants, he would be monitoring Minnesota’s situation over the coming weeks to see if McCarthy could become available via trade.
In fact, when asked point-blank if he would trade this year’s No. 3 overall pick for McCarthy, Kiper basically cut off the question with his answer: “Yes.”
When asked if the Vikings should make that trade, Kiper changed his tone. There’s one caveat: Darnold’s performance in these upcoming playoff games. Here was Kiper’s take on the situation:
I don’t think you need to know that right now. That’s something, if I’m the Vikings, I’m letting that all play out because you have a 27-year-old Sam Darnold looking really good for (Kevin) O’Connell, and if he goes through the playoffs playing really well, Sam Darnold’s your quarterback. Then you could potentially look at trading J.J. If Sam Darnold isn’t at that level in these playoff games, then you keep J.J., you franchise Sam, you let it play out. You can’t go with J.J. and let Sam go, because J.J. is still a relative unknown coming off the injury. But you would then franchise Sam and let them both go into next year on that team with Sam being the starter, develop J.J. maybe as the heir apparent and see how Sam plays.
So, yeah, I think the playoff situation coming up for Minnesota will determine everything about how they handle their quarterback situation.
While Minnesota’s plan at the quarterback position for 2025 remains a mystery, this is an excellent problem to have. A large percentage of NFL teams need a quarterback, and the Vikings potentially have two on their roster. That’s a significant advantage for a team that’s already a legitimate playoff contender.
To Kiper’s point, there’s no need to play those cards, at least not yet. The Vikings should hold those cards as long as possible, figure out how to keep both players in the short term, and make an informed decision down the road.
It’s probably too soon to go all-in on Darnold. He’s been great this season, but that Detroit game was a potential red flag. We still need to see how it looks when the team faces added adversity. Monday’s playoff game, against a Rams team that beat the Vikings back in Week 8, certainly qualifies. We’ll also want to see how he comes back and performs next season, after a full year in Minnesota’s program.
It’s equally too soon to move on from McCarthy, even for a top-five pick this year. We haven’t seen the former Michigan star take a real NFL snap yet. Moving on from him too soon could be an organization-wide blunder.
Darnold’s performance in these playoffs will certainly sway the narrative, but the play here is to keep both QBs at all costs. and extend this enviable situation for at least another year.
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