The Vikings usually are not anticipated to position the franchise tag on quarterback Sam Darnold, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Darnold was one of this offseason’s strongest tag candidates after turning his profession round in Minnesota final yr. He posted career-bests in a number of statistical classes and ranked fifth amongst all quarterbacks in passing yards and touchdowns. Nonetheless, he ended the season on a low notice, making an already-tough resolution much more tough for the Vikings. They may tag Darnold within the hopes that he can lead them deeper within the playoffs in 2025 or let him hit free company and threat shedding a bidding battle.
Minnesota appears to have chosen the latter, although the workforce nonetheless has curiosity in retaining Darnold. They are going to have to take action and not using a franchise tag, thereby eliminating the opportunity of a tag-and-trade.
A Darnold franchise tag has been considered unlikely for a few weeks. At $40.2M, the quarterback franchise tag is just too excessive of a one-year cap burden for the Vikings. Minnesota has the seventh-most cap house within the NFL, according to OverTheCap, however they’ve a number of starters hitting free company that they should re-sign or exchange.
Free company makes essentially the most sense for Darnold, too. After taking part in for 4 completely different groups over the past 5 years, he could also be searching for a long-term residence within the NFL. The Vikings nonetheless see 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy as their quarterback of the long run, so any take care of Darnold can be a short-term pact. By hitting the open market, Darnold may have extra flexibility to barter a long-term contract with the potential to incite a bidding battle between QB-needy groups.
