The Vikings are moving past their playoff loss and talking about the future now. It's going to be a very busy future. The organization has numerous free agent decisions to make, leadership contracts to figure out, and the biggest question they face is what to do at quarterback, including 2024 starter and free agent Sam Darnold.
General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah both spoke to the media today about both team personnel issues, and their own contracts which expire after this coming season.
But starting with quarterback, it's a decision that seemed more complicated after Darnold and the team struggled mightily in their last two games, a regular-season finale loss in Detroit, and a playoff blowout at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. Darnold played poorly in both, potentially costing him some major dollars, whether in Minnesota or elsewhere.
"There was some part of us that all believed that Sam was gonna have a a really good season," Adofo-Mensah said Thursday. "And so that, when we made the move, that was part of the calculus. I think everybody looks at these things as binary - yes, no, left, right - and I don't think it is that. I think it's making sure you have a certain level of play at the quarterback position for as long as Kevin and I are here."
The team's other QB option for 2025 could be rookie draft pick J.J. McCarthy who Adofo-Mensah says looks good after missing the season due to knee surgery. McCarthy had knee soreness during the preseason which turned out to be a torn meniscus which required season-ending surgery.
"Yeah, he's on the field, throwing and training," Adofo-Mensah says of McCarthy's rehab process. "So I was in there and he was actually in there doing some, you know, those cool quarterback things, with weights. He was in there doing them, and he looks great."
Adofo-Mensah adds that if they do turn to McCarthy in 2025, the team will do it with "confidence."
Head coach Kevin O'Connell was asked about the QB situation too. O'Connell basically said it's too early to make a decision and there is a lot to digest from the entire season before that determination can be made.
"I think it's way too early in that process to really identify exactly what that looks like," says the head coach who got much more out of Darnold than anyone expected. "But we're going to go through every layer of it. And we're going to clearly decide that path that best helps us move forward to win games."
Darnold is heading into free agency after signing a one-year deal with the Vikings. They have the option to use a franchise tag on Darnold and get one more season from him at a price tag somewhere close to $40 million per season. The team also had former Giant QB Daniel Jones on the practice squad and roster for a number of weeks after New York cut him. He could provide another bridge year if Darnold leaves, giving the Vikings a veteran to lean on while figuring out what McCarthy can do.
Front Office Contracts?
While the Vikings have a lot of decisions to make this offseason with their roster, there are also decisions to make right at the top. Both O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah have contracts that expire in a year.
"I'm unbelievably grateful to be the general manager of the Vikings, and I want to continue to be so," says Adofo-Mensah when asked about his desire for a new deal. "I'm going to leave this office, and keep being the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings, and work hard to try and improve this team, and whatever comes in the future will come. But that's where I'm at right now."
O'Connell adds he has been talking to the team's owners and said he would like to stay in Minnesota as well.
"I do. I do. And I've had great dialogue with our ownership," O'Connell says. "This week in reflection as the season came to an end, and anything beyond that, you know, I would prefer to kind of keep those discussions internal."
The NFL rumor mill has been swirling around O'Connell the last few weeks with thoughts a team would covet the QB-friendly coach and actually make a trade for him, something that has happened a handful of times in the NFL.