The discussion about the Minnesota Vikings’ future at quarterback is going to get redundant and nauseating. It was like that last year with Kirk Cousins. Fans and analysts were relentless in discussing the quarterback situation.
That hasn’t changed much over the course of the last month. The discussion surrounding Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy has been relentless and consistent. In fact, O’Connell had to clarify some misunderstood comments from his press conference after winning Coach of the Year at NFL Honors.
“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 in our league and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them. 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 as well as being really excited about J.J. McCarthy and where he’s at in his rehab.”
Ian Rapoport weighs in on Sam Darnold vs. J.J. McCarthy
We will continue to hear multiple perspectives on the Vikings’ quarterback decision, one that likely hasn’t been made yet. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has always been the type of general manager to make decisions based on the best available data, which means waiting for potential contract negotiations.
On Friday afternoon, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport commented on the situation, raising more questions than answers.
“This actually a little bit, goes back to where the Vikings were last year. We’ll see what they end up deciding, but where the Vikings were last year, which is, we have a quarterback who’s going to get a big salary. We have a quarterback who’s going to earn a big salary. What kind of team can you put around him? And if you pay Darnold what he’s worth, which, based on the season he had, you know, was a comeback player of the year candidate, somehow had a really good season. It’s going to command big dollars. Can they build around the offensive line, defensive line like they need, or do they say J.J. McCarthy, we have seen enough where he is just our franchise quarterback, and we’re moving on from there,? All options on the table, is my understanding of where the Minnesota Vikings stand.”
This is a very interesting situation that the Vikings find themselves in. It’s also a good one because the Vikings theoretically have two quarterbacks they can move forward with. Which one will they pick? That question has yet to be answered, but it’s only a month away.
