The Minnesota Vikings are about to enter a busy offseason, and their decision at quarterback will be one of the biggest dominos to fall across NFL free agency. The Vikings will have until March 5 to decide on whether to use their franchise tag on starting QB Sam Darnold,

“Stafford and Kevin O’Connell are already familiar with each other, having won a Super Bowl together with the Rams back in 2022. Who wouldn’t want to see Stafford close out his NFL career by throwing the rock around to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson? (Maybe Lions fans).”

His preseason torn meniscus scuttled those plans and Darnold went on to have a great and surprising year. There are no guarantees that Darnold would be able to repeat his success in 2025, and if the Vikings were to bring him back, his $10 million salary would likely rise to the $35-40 million level.