Where do the Vikings go from here?

By Trevor Speetzen January 18, 2025 01:44

The Minnesota Vikings dream season has officially come to an end after their wild card round loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings finished the regular season 14-3, but were unfortunately first-round exits in the 2024 playoffs.

Despite a great regular season, the Vikings had low projections entering the season after an injury to their first-round rookie quarterback, JJ McCarthy.

Despite the injury, Sam Darnold stepped in at quarterback and had the best season of his career. Darnold finished the season 4,319 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns and had a QB rating of 102.5.

Darnold’s successful season with the Vikings has raised questions about the team’s quarterback situation entering the 2025 season. Along with Darnold’s resurgence, Minnesota also added former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to their QB room.

Darnold only signed a one-year contract with the Vikings and will be a free agent when the new league year begins in March.

So what does the team do? Do the Vikings extend Darnold while McCarthy develops? Do they let Darnold walk and hand the keys over to McCarthy? Does Daniel Jones have a chance at the QB1 position next year?

Throughout the regular season, Darnold established that he was worthy of a major contract during the 2025 offseason. However, he may have hurt his case during Minnesota’s last two games of the season.

The Vikings lost their regular season finale against the Detroit Lions in brutal fashion and suffered another devastating defeat during the wild card round against the Rams.

Darnold’s recent struggles certainly cost him some money and likely a chance to return to Minnesota in 2025, but does the team turn to McCarthy yet.

McCarthy lost his whole rookie year due to a knee injury suffered in training camp. While he may have learned a thing or two during that time, he has yet to see a professional NFL team yet and they could affect him moving forward.

While McCarthy now has at least one year of experience in the NFL, he’ll practically be a rookie when he steps onto the field for the first time next season. Do the Vikings turn over to McCarthy now or do they want to develop him just a bit more?

If Minnesota wants to develop McCarthy more, who will be their starting QB to begin 2025? The Vikings will likely let Darnold walk in free agency so he can get a big contract. That would leave Daniel Jones as the team’s other QB.

Jones is fresh off his release from the Giants after a series of poor performances. While Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell is known as a QB whisperer, does he have what it takes to turnaround Jones’ career.

If the Vikings want to let McCarthy sit for another year, it would likely be Jones’ chance to resurrect his career and Minnesota might be the best place for him to do so.

However, does Jones starting at quarterback for the Vikings hurt their chances of reaching the playoffs in 2025 and will the team be forced to turn to a still raw JJ McCarthy.