The 2025 NFL league year begins March 12 and the three-day negotiating period ahead of free agency starts March 10. That means the Minnesota Vikings’ decision about quarterback Sam Darnold is going to come within a month.

As the clock ticks down, speculation is running rampant. After Kevin O’Connell won the Coach of the Year award during the NFL Honors, he was misrepresented by a veteran Detroit Lions insider who thought he heard O’Connell say Darnold would help Minnesota win games in the future when in reality O’Connell was talking about wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

But of all the interviews O’Connell has done in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, his chat with former NFL player Bryant McFadden on CBS Sports HQ might be the most revealing. Talking with McFadden on Friday, O’Connell tap-danced around the Darnold question but made it clear that the Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy 10th overall last year for a reason.

“I believe Sam has kind of played himself into being kind of the marquee free agent quarterback available,” O’Connell said. “I do believe that his teammates and coaches and our front office and myself, we would love to have Sam back in Minnesota. But at the same time we do feel very confident in J.J. McCarthy. He’s healthy. We drafted him 10th overall for a reason in what was, in my opinion, a historically good quarterback draft last year.”

O’Connell loves Darnold, but McCarthy is the player they drafted to be the franchise quarterback.

Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Sam Darnold and Katie Hoofnagle on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“Sam knows how I personally feel about him. I know he loves being a Minnesota Viking. Let’s see what these next few weeks look like and as we have dialogue all of it will be really two fold where we’re thinking about obviously having the best possible team in 2025 in Minnesota that we can, but I also care very much about Sam and I want what’s best for him,” O’Connell added.

Minnesota cannot field the best possible team if they bring back Darnold on a long-term extension, a $41.3 million franchise tag for the approximately $35 million transition tag. That money would eat into their available cap space that they need to spend on upgrading the offensive and defensive lines and secondary.

We’ll know for sure what the Vkings are planning to do within a month, but O’Connell’s words to McFadden seem pretty clear. What do you think?