Sam Darnold, Vikings Will Have 'Ongoing Dialogue' About New Contract, O'Connell Says

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell isn't closing the door on bringing back quarterback Sam Darnold.

"Look, you guys know how I feel about Sam," O'Connell told reporters Thursday at the NFL Honors. "He is a guy that we identified last year as somebody who could come in and be successful. And really no matter where he was at before he arrived in his quarterback journey, it was about maximizing our time together. And I think we did that, and I think it was a very special year for Sam. And what that earned him is, everybody in our league now thinks he's a bona fide legitimate starting quarterback and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them [in 2024].

"So he's earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation."

Minnesota at least has some options.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert reported it is considering placing the franchise tag on the veteran, signing him to a multiyear deal or simply moving on to J.J. McCarthy, who was the No. 10 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft and presumed franchise quarterback until he missed his rookie campaign with a knee injury.

Darnold seemed to be nothing more than a short-term bandaid for the McCarthy situation, given some of his struggles in previous stops, but he instead turned in a career season for the Vikings by going 14-3 as a starter and completing 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

It was far different from his time with the New York Jets when he went 13-25 as a starter. He also bounced around to the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers and seemed destined to be a backup as his career progressed before turning things around in Minnesota.

Yet the Darnold conversation also has to take into account his struggles in the biggest moments.

He went 18-of-41 in a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions in the final game of the regular season with the NFC's No. 1 seed hanging in the balance and then led the offense to just nine points in a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round.

It was easy to see flashes of the old Darnold in those performances, and it was also easy to speculate he cost himself significant money come free agency.

At least it seems like he didn't cost himself a chance to return to the Vikings given O'Connell's comments.