Vikings decline to use franchise tag on Sam Darnold; QB appears set to become a free agent

Ben Goessling, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 4, 2025

Published in Football

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MINNEAPOLIS — If the Minnesota Vikings plan to bring Sam Darnold back for the 2025 season, they’ll have to agree to a new contract with him, likely before the start of free agency next week.

Otherwise, they’ll have a new starting quarterback for the third consecutive year.

The Vikings passed on the most automatic path to Darnold’s return, declining to place the franchise tag on him before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. CT deadline. The team could still agree to a new deal with Darnold to bring him back as the starter, but without a new contract, the quarterback would be free to talk with other teams starting on Monday.

A franchise tag for Darnold would have cost the Vikings $40.24 million for 2025, while ensuring the team could match any free agent offer for Darnold or receive two first-round picks as compensation if he left. Additionally, the Vikings could have traded Darnold after tagging him, though sources said at the NFL combine last week that was unlikely.

As those sources pointed out, tagging Darnold effectively would have given him a no-trade clause, since a new team would want to know whether the quarterback would sign a long-term deal with them before making the trade. If Darnold indicated he didn’t want to sign a long-term deal with a certain team, it would have effectively nixed the trade.

Darnold became one of the surprise stories of the 2024 season, throwing for 35 touchdowns and leading the Vikings to their first 14-win season since 1998, while earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He’d signed a one-year, $10 million deal to be a replacement for Kirk Cousins, seemingly a temporary role after the Vikings drafted quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the first round.

But when McCarthy tore the meniscus in his right knee during the Vikings' first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders, it removed any possibility Darnold would face competition during the 2024 season. The 27-year-old thrived as he never had in the NFL, excelling in an offense that capitalized on his arm strength with explosive downfield pass concepts and intermediate in-breaking routes built off those downfield looks. Darnold, the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, had never won more than seven games in a season as a starter; he played himself into the fringes of the MVP conversation in 2024, while earning 15 votes for NFL comeback player of the year despite confusion about whether he would be eligible for the award.

The length of his stay in Minnesota always seemed uncertain, though, given the fact the Vikings had made McCarthy the highest drafted quarterback in franchise history. When the Vikings added former Giants starter Daniel Jones to their practice squad in November, it seemed like they might use him to repeat in 2025 what they did with Darnold in 2024. Jones did not play in a game for the Vikings, but could still return to Minnesota on an affordable one-year deal, giving them a veteran option that could reboot his career under coach Kevin O’Connell and start the year at quarterback if the Vikings wanted more time to get McCarthy ready after his knee injury ended his rookie year.

Darnold could still return to Minnesota, especially given the fact the Vikings have roughly $60 million in cap space. But the team has just 53 players under contract for 2025, with needs at positions like cornerback, guard and defensive tackle. Because the Vikings currently have just three draft picks (with a third-round compensatory pick for Cousins likely on the way), they might have to spend in free agency to fill some of their needs.

That could lead them to decide against bringing Darnold back, especially if the quarterback is intent on maximizing his market value after his impressive season. He is the top QB on the free agent market, with teams like the Titans, Raiders and Giants in need of a starter ahead of a draft where the quarterback class isn’t viewed as highly as the 2024 group. If Darnold were to return to Minnesota, it’d likely be on a below-market contract, rather than a deal that pays him $45 million per season on the open market.

After declining to use the franchise tag in 2025, the Vikings still have applied it to a player just five times in their history. They did it most recently in 2020, bringing safety Anthony Harris back on a one-year, $11 million tag. Before that, they did it in 2011, tagging Chad Greenway before agreeing to a multiyear deal with the linebacker.

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