The Minnesota Vikings spent the 2024 season as the surprise team of the NFL.

With Sam Darnold as an MVP and Comeback Player of the Year candidate.

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Sam Darnold will soon know more about his NFL future[/caption]

Without a veteran quarterback who could make $160 million on the open market?

The Vikings must be absolute certain that J.J. McCarthy can lead them back to the playoffs in 2025.

And that’s impossible right now, especially considering that McCarthy still hasn’t played a snap in the pros, and he remains a Week 1 question mark in March.

Throw in the fact that seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady has a $375 million TV contract and the Las Vegas Raiders hold an estimated net worth of $6.7 billion, and the second-tier Vikings have a huge franchise tag decision to make that directly impacts free agency and beyond.

With Darnold and McCarthy, Minnesota can build off a 14-3 season and again be NFC contenders next season.

By allowing Darnold to leave, the Vikings will gamble the futures of Kevin O’Connell, Brian Flores and more on McCarthy instantly living up to his No. 10 overall draft pick status in 2024.

“The only thing makes sense with the Vikings is to (franchise) tag him (Darnold), right?” said talkSPORT NFL Run Down host Will Gavin.

Except it appears that Minnesota will do the opposite.

Reports surfaced on Monday night that the Vikings aren’t expected to tag Darnold ahead of a 4 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday.

Although Minnesota still hopes to re-sign a seven-year veteran coming off a career year that featured 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns and a 102.5 rating.

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Tom Brady needs to help the Raiders find a new QB[/caption]

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Sam Darnold could be pursued by multiple NFL teams in free agency[/caption]

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Shedeur Sanders is near the top of the list for draft QBs[/caption]

But with free agency starting on Monday via the ‘legal tampering’ window, Darnold is inching closer and closer toward becoming available to the highest bidder.

The New York Giants could target Aaron Rodgers, but Darnold is coming off a far better season and has more long-term upside.

The New Orleans Saints are also quarterback needy.

Then there’s the big lure.

Brady and the Raiders struck out on Ben Johnson as their new head coach, which was followed by the failed pursuit of Matthew Stafford as Las Vegas’ new prized QB.

The efforts to pry Stafford away from Los Angeles were so intense that, in the aftermath, two media members nearly brawled inside an Indianaoplis Starbucks during last week’s NFL combine.

Brady watched and waited as a rookie, then built a dynasty with Bill Belichick in New England.

Drafting former Colorado star Shedeur Sanders at No. 6 overall and signing Darnold as a bridge QB would be a total power move by Mark Davis’ right-hand man.

The Vikings hold all the leverage with Darnold right now.

They can tag him for about $40 million.

“It probably restricts you from signing maybe one free agent that you weren’t going to, anyway,” Gavin said.

“But it gives you that flexibility of, right, is J.J McCarthy going to be healthy from day one? Are we going to be ready to go?

“You essentially have the season you were expecting to have last year, where Darnold starts for four or five five games.”

Minnesota could also re-sign the ex-Jets first-rounder to a team-friendly deal that gives Darnold guaranteed cash, while building a runway to McCarthy’s eventual takeover.

Lost in those theories is the fact that Darnold proved last season he’s a weekly starter in the NFL.

It just takes one team – the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns or Brady’s desperate Raiders — teasing $160 million during the combine to move him out of Minnesota during free agency.

Darnold knows now who he wants to be starting for in 2025.

The real questions are whether the Vikings also know, and if they believe in McCarthy enough to let their best current QB walk away.

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