Are you ready for some football this weekend?
College football playoffs!
Notre Dame handled Indiana which was predictable considering Indiana did not play any ranked team until Ohio State crushed them.
I like SMU, Texas, and Tennessee today but it probably will be Penn State, Texas, and Ohio State.
Who do you like?
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
3 Sam Darnold landing spots with Vikings’ JJ McCarthy succession plan clear
Tennessee Titans
Tennessee coach Dave Canales has already decided to move on from 2023 second-round pick Will Levis, turning to Mason Rudolph for a second time this year last Sunday.
The Titans are 3-11 and are in play for one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, but they are still set to face the Jacksonville Jaguars and could find themselves with anywhere from the third-ninth pick. That may not be good enough to land an elite quarterback.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints are always trying to stay competitive, hence their decision to sign quarterback Derek Carr as the “final piece” to their playoff puzzle in 2023.
Carr has been a disappointment, however. New Orleans can save $30 million if they designate him as a post-6/1 release – crucial money considering the Saints have the least cap space in the league
Indianapolis Colts
Any Darnold-to-Indianapolis deal is contingent on coach Shane Steichen committing to move on from Anthony Richardson: the former fourth-overall pick’s erratic accuracy has stunted some of his athletic gifts.
Vikings-Seahawks Week 16 score predictions from the Vikings On SI staff
Will Ragatz: Seahawks 20, Vikings 17
The Vikings are a better team than the Seahawks, but this one might be tough. There’s rain in the forecast, Seattle has two excellent running backs, and the Vikings have struggled a bit to defend the run with Ivan Pace Jr. on injured reserve. Also, Mike Macdonald’s team really needs this game and it’s a difficult place to win on the road. So while I absolutely can see the Vikings extending their streak if they show up and play well, it’s also very difficult to win eight consecutive games in the NFL. Everyone picking Minnesota this week gives me a slightly bad feeling about this one.
Joe Nelson: Vikings 30, Seahawks 17
I can’t stop thinking about how bad Tariq Woolen’s day might be against Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. If Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson were tough on him, then Jefferson and Addison might send him into hiding. The Seahawks are a bad team disguised as a team with a winning record, but if the Packers, 49ers and Bills are blowing them away in Seattle, I imagine the Vikings will do the same.
Nolan O’Hara: Vikings 27, Seahawks 24
Jonathan Harrison: Vikings 17, Seahawks 14
Tony Liebert: Vikings 31, Seahawks 28
Season records for our pickers:
* Joe: 12-2
* Will: 11-3
* Jonathan: 10-4
* Nolan: 9-5
* Tony: 7-7
Is Vikings’ McCown a future OC, following Darnold’s success?
Josh McCown is nearing a milestone of sorts. In three weeks, he will have completed his first full season as a coach above the high school level.
McCown smiles at the mention of the relatively modest achievement. He’s standing off to the side in the Minnesota Vikings’ indoor practice facility, where he has spent 2024 as the team’s quarterbacks coach.
“I love it here and I love the guys I’m around,” McCown said. “And I think I’m just scratching the surface of, for me, really learning how to coach in this system. And so my focus is just getting better at that, and then whatever happens down the road happens. But I just want to stay present with it.”
McCown’s coaches during his own playing career sometimes leaned on him for game-planning and playcalling input, especially in 2014 when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and later during his two-year stint with the Chicago Bears. So while he had an idea of what goes into the role of being an offensive playcaller, McCown said his time in Minnesota with O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski has exposed him an entirely different level.
“That’s what’s been great for me,” he said. “It’s been very hard at times, if I’m being candid, because these guys think of everything. And so that’s been great learning for me. I tell Kevin all the time that it can be intimidating to be around him, just because of how smart he is.”
At times that has left Darnold and McCown to absorb the system together as newcomers, much as they did in 2018 when they were teammates with the New York Jets.
“He’s been great,” Darnold said, “just the way that — even when I first got here in OTAs — we’ve been able to learn the system together. And talk about the system and grow in it at the same time. It’s been a great journey so far. He’s been a great coach to be able to lean on where situations aren’t necessarily going my way, and he’s also there when things are getting good, just to remind me of my fundamentals and what I’ve got to do to continue good quarterback play.”
Some of that has played out during the 45-minute on-field practice review McCown instituted at the start of the season. Darnold liked it so much that he requested them every day the team practices. So, for at least three days every week, all four of the Vikings’ quarterbacks — Darnold, Nick Mullens, Brett Rypien and Daniel Jones — gather after practice to drop back in unison to mimic the mechanics and progressions of each play on the call sheet.
“Sometimes you just need reps doing that,” McCown said. “It’ll be like, ‘Hey, my brain is here and now this [defensive] look happens, and I’m doing this, and where’s my brain now? What am I thinking now?’ So we want him to get extra reps of that. And the others, they take that time to get a little extra throws in.”
4 Vikings lead NFC position groups in Pro Bowl voting
With just one week of voting left, wide receiver Justin Jefferson, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. and long snapper Andrew DePaola lead their respective positions in fan voting.
NFL writer: Vikings 10-pick draft class ‘fail’ is franchise’s biggest mistake since 2020
The Minnesota Vikings hired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah prior to the start of the 2022 league year, and since then he’s made some masterful moves.
The decision this offseason to move on from Kirk Cousins and pivot to Sam Darnold on a one-year, bridge deal? It looks brilliant as we stand today, with the Vikings sitting tied atop the NFC standings at 12-2 entering Week 16, and Cousins getting benched by the Atlanta Falcons after signing a $180 million free agent contract this past March.
Adofo-Mensah has shown shrewd judgement and timing in both free agency and the trade deadline, landing key starters like T.J. Hockenson, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman, and uncovering hidden gems like Ivan Pace Jr. and Jalen Redmond.
His draft history, though, is a completely different story, with one 400-foot homer — selecting Jordan Addison No. 23 overall in 2023 — saving him from a complete disaster. NFL writer Bill Barnwell of ESPN recently pegged Minnesota’s 2022 draft class, Adofo-Mensah’s first on the job, as the team’s worst mistake of the past five seasons:
It’s too early to judge the major investments general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made in quarterback J.J. McCarthy and edge rusher Dallas Turner atop the 2024 draft, but it’s fair to say he didn’t fare well in his debut draft. Though he has done excellent work in free agency and found a talented wideout (Jordan Addison) in the first round of the 2023 draft, it’s difficult to get less than what the Vikings landed out of their top picks in 2022. — Bill Barnwell, ESPN
The idea of a Darnold extension was one that nobody had on their bingo card going into the season. Heck, some in the national media didn’t think Darnold would start a game, as they believed McCarthy would start from day one.
Needless to say, Darnold has made the discussion about his future more intricate, as he’s played at an MVP level at times this season.
This season, Darnold is second in the NFL in big-time throws with 29 on the season and his numbers on 20+ yard throws are superb.
54 attempts (T-3rd)
27 completions (T-1st)
969 yards (1st)
7 touchdown (T-2nd)
19 big-time throws (T-3rd)
All of these numbers are career highs for Darnold, as are:
Wins: 12
Completion percentage: 67.6%
Yards: 3,530
Touchdowns: 29
Passer rating: 104.9
EPA/play: 0.154
Success rate: 51.6%
When you look at what a new contract might look like, it will be significantly more expensive.
The last two “bridge type” quarterbacks to have a renaissance that got big contracts had vastly different salaries.
Geno Smith: 3 years, $75 million with the Seattle Seahawks
Baker Mayfield: 3 years, $100 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Along with a potential extension, there is the option of a franchise tag. Per Over The Cap, their current projections for the franchise tag for a quarterback is $41,304,000, which is $3 million more than what it was in 2024.
That is a significant amount of money to give Darnold, especially with McCarthy on the roster waiting in the wings. It’s eerily similar to what the San Diego Chargers had after the 2004 season.
Ultimately, the decision is likely to come down to salary cap dollars. Will giving Darnold major money be worth it in terms of opportunity cost? The more money you pay your quarterback, the less money you have to pay other players.
Ultimately, the decision is likely to come down to salary cap dollars. Will giving Darnold major money be worth it in terms of opportunity cost? The more money you pay your quarterback, the less money you have to pay other players.
The Vikings have $71,565,541 in dead cap this season with $28.5 million wrapped up in Kirk Cousins’ dead money from his contract.
When you look at it that way, the Vikings have $37.25 million in salary cap space tied up in the quarterback position. Going into next season with around that tied up in Darnold would be no different than it is this year.
The opportunity cost of extending Sam Darnold
This is where the discussion really comes into focus. Giving Darnold $41,304,000 instead of someone like Jones or Mullens $6 million is a $35 million disparity. The Vikings could use that $35 million to get two massive difference makers on the open market. There are multiple players the Vikings could target in free agency who could be impact players on day one.
DT Osa Odighizuwa: $15 million AAV
CB D.J. Reed: $15 million AAV
OG Trey Smith: $23 million AAV
If you have Darnold, you likely can’t sign all of those, Heck, you might put yourself in a position where if you could have all three, you only get one. That opportunity cost is a major factor in the Darnold extension discussion.
What will the Vikings end up doing? Well, it’s almost a guarantee that McCarthy will be the guy next year because of that opportunity cost. Even so, I’ll leave you with this:
McCarthy is far from a guarantee to be a franchise quarterback and if you think that Darnold is one, it’s difficult to let him go. With all that said, the Vikings believe McCarthy more than just about anyone else in the NFL or media.
With general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s background on Wall Street, moving on from Darnold is the likely move, but never say never.
Yore Mock
Trade Recap
Minnesota Receives:
2025: Round 2, Pick 38
2025: Round 3, Pick 69
2026: Round 5
Cleveland Receives:
2025: Round 1, Pick 28
…
Minnesota Receives:
2025: Round 3, Pick 76
2025: Round 5, Pick 151
2025: Round 7, Pick 248
Dallas Receives:
2025: Round 3, Pick 69
…
Minnesota Receives:
2025: Round 6, Pick 181
2025: Round 7, Pick 243
Tennessee Receives:
2025: Round 5, Pick 163
…
38. Tyler Booker IOL Alabama 6’5” 325
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
76. Darien Porter CB Iowa State 6’4” 200
Photo by Luke Lu/Diamond Images via Getty Images
97. Alfred Collins DL Texas 6’5” 320
Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
140. Smael Mondon Jr. LB Georgia 6’3” 235
Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
151. Cameron Skattebo RB Arizona State 5’11” 215
Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
181. Luke Kandra IOL Cincinnati 6’4” 323
Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
243. Darius Alexander DL Toledo 6’4” 310
Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
248. Hunter Wohler S Wisconsin 6’2” 218
Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images
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