Should the Vikings pay Darnold after his (mostly) excellent season? Or should they go with McCarthy and spend that money at other positions?

Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy's physical readiness for the 2025 season will sway their decision on Sam Darnold; he took a step forward this week.

Last summer, Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell gave J.J. McCarthy a ringing endorsement as the team's quarterback of the future. "Everyone should be excited that we got our young franchise quarterback in the building,” O’Connell said in August after McCarthy underwent season-ending knee surgery.

Will the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2025 be Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy or Daniel Jones? It's the biggest question of the offseason and Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah isn't tipping his hand.

The Minnesota Vikings have entered yet another offseason with significant questions around their quarterback depth chart.

I can’t stand to keep going to the playoffs and only playing in a game and being out of it,” the receiver said. “I want to compete for a Super Bowl.”

The Minnesota Vikings brain trust of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell have the biggest choice an NFL team grapples with when building out the roster: what should they do with their starting quarterback position?

The quarterback position was central to the conversation at the end of season press conferences that the Vikings held on Thursday.

Sam Darnold’s second straight Jets-esque performance in a primetime game, this one ending the Vikings’ season Monday night in the 27-9 wild-card loss to the Rams, has perhaps helped solidify to Minnesota decision-makers how they should handle their upcoming quarterback controversy.

The Minnesota Vikings went out with a whimper on a Monday night, and in the process, Sam Darnold may have cost himself any shot to return as the club's unquestioned starting quarterback. A pleasant surprise for much of an explosive 2024 campaign,

Whether the J.J. McCarthy era in Minnesota will begin in Week 1 of the 2025 season remains to be seen. But as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said, “If that’s the course of action we decide,

Sam Darnold promises to be one of the most interesting free agents in recent memory. Regarding quarterback UFAs, he may become one of the most captivating commodities since full-fledged free agency launched in 1993.