Sam Darnold and the Vikings are set to take on the Rams in Arizona on Monday night to wrap up Wild Card weekend, and Boomer and Gio agree that there is a lot on the line for the former Jets quarterback.
“This is a huge game for Sam Darnold’s future and his wallet,” Gio said. “I know he’s still gonna get paid and someone is still gonna give him a decent contract, but where he was trending after that Packer game before the Lions to where he would be if he has another game like he did against the Lions on Sunday Night Football, it would be a world of difference.
“He could still possibly go on a run in these playoffs...and more money would come his way, but even with the 14-win season, if he ends it with two duds against good football teams, there’s gonna be that skepticism that creeps right back in.”
Darnold, a free agent after this season, had a career year with the Vikings, earning his first-ever Pro Bowl selection by throwing for a career-high 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. But he was dreadful in Minnesota’s regular season finale with a first-round bye on the line, completing just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards. Should he struggle again in the postseason, and teams may remember that and his career numbers before this year rather than his renaissance season as a whole. If he does struggle, Boomer wonders if he will run it back with the Vikings on a similar contract that he signed this year, when nobody expected that it would result in a 14-3 record and a Pro Bowl nod.
“If in fact that is the case, maybe he goes back to Minnesota on the same deal he’s on now,” Boomer said. “It’s a lesser deal, he likes it there, he’s willing to compete with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job.
“But he has a chance to rekindle a little of the magic that he’s had.”