The Minnesota Vikings are now 14-2 after beating the Green Bay Packers by a score of 27-25 with a chance to win both the NFC North and the number one seed in the NFC when they face the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football.

A lot of it has been due to quarterback Sam Darnold and head coach Kevin O’Connell. They have won 14 games together, which is the most wins for a starting quarterback in their first year with a team in NFL history.

The Vikings have used the idea of a competitive rebuild to get them in this spot. It’s how the Vikings have 14 wins with over $70 million in dead salary cap this season.

Vikings should add Daniel Jones to the active roster

The other angle when it comes to the idea of a competitive rebuild is consistently taking low-cost opportunities to add to the roster. They did so when quarterback Daniel Jones was signed to the practice squad. It was a big win for what the Vikings are doing, and shows that Jones has bought into what they are doing.

Now that we are about to enter the final game, a decision needs to be made about Jones being added to the active roster. If they do before Sunday’s game, he would be eligible for the compensatory pick formula.

Most analysts would tell you that Jones is a better quarterback than the current third quarterback in Brett Rypien which could end up mattering in the Vikings’ decision. O’Connell was asked about the possibility of signing Jones and gave a glowing answer about the quarterback room.

“Yeah, we’re gonna, you know, we’re gonna have some dialog about that. As far as the timing of it, Daniel’s been quietly behind the scenes, putting in some phenomenal work, and probably, as I told him the other day, more excited now than even as excited as I was to get him in here day one, just by what he’s shown us already. And so that’s definitely something we’re gonna talk about. I feel so fortunate to have, with JJ, really back full speed in those meetings. I mean, you walk in there, you got five NFL quarterbacks sitting there and, you know, and Josh, sometimes, if I blink and look at him, you can probably say, six. I’m not going to give Grant that kind of love. But I’m sure Josh can still sling it.”

Now, the Vikings signed Jones likely for three reasons:

• Can never have too many capable quarterbacks (ie: 2023 Vikings)
• A trial run for the 2025 season
• Capitalize on the compensatory formula

If Jones does indeed sign with a team, factoring into the compensatory formula could be huge for the Vikings. They currently don’t have their 2026 fourth-round pick with the likely conditions the Cam Robinson trade hitting so having Jones involved with the formula could pay off in a major way.