Until Tuesday of this week, the Minnesota Vikings had the opportunity to place their franchise tag on Sam Darnold, but they have chosen not to.
Had it happened, it would have automatically given the 27-year-old a one-year deal, but this is not the case. Such a deal would have cost $40.42million for the NFL side, unless a new long-term agreement was made between the two parties. That deal looks far from happening, but the story is slightly more nuanced.
Darnold, who only signed for the side on a one-year $10m contract during the spring of 2024, has looked set to test the free agency, which gets going from March 12.
1) Vikings ain’t trading McCarthy
2) I was told in Indy that Vikes weren’t tagging Darnold, and that Darnold’s market isnt as robust as public thinks
3) Minnesota’ll re-sign Sam to 1-yr $20-25m range deal if a market doesn’t emerge, with the understanding it’ll be a competition https://t.co/xSB2hgzPng
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) March 5, 2025
Vikings will re-sign Darnold on one condition
However, despite the fact that the Vikings seem to have passed on Darnold, NFL analyst Thor Nystrom says that they are in fact still considering a deal for the California native. It is expected to be another one-year deal worth about half of the league’s $40.2 million franchise tag number.
“Vikings ain’t trading McCarthy”, he wrote on Twitter, “I was told in Indy that Vikes weren’t tagging Darnold, and that Darnold’s market isnt as robust as public thinks.. Minnesota’ll re-sign Sam to 1-yr $20-25m range deal if a market doesn’t emerge, with the understanding it’ll be a competition.”
Nystrom hinted that there will be competition for Darnold, with plenty of teams rumoured to be interested in signing him should he become available, with Brady’s Raiders heavily linked.
Darnold helped the Vikings to a 14-3 record but can, as of March 10, begin to negotiate deals during the “legal tampering” period. As conflicting reports fly in from all sides, we will simply have to wait and see what happens to the player who would be a huge asset for anyone in the NFL.
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