Sam Darnold has positioned himself to be the most highly pursued quarterback in free agency in 2025.
The Vikings have surpassed every expectation this season, with Darnold displaying in Year 7 all those dominant traits that once made him a top-three draft selection. Rarely rattled by pressure, Darnold has thrived in Kevin O'Connell's scheme, able to splash big plays and find easy outlets when necessary.
The Vikings know that Darnold has played so well he's likely to be a one-and-done in Minnesota.
"We all know that Sam is gonna be a sought-after type of guy from wherever that may be," offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said Tuesday, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Whatever his future ends up being, I know all of us in this building are gonna be happy for him, no matter where that ends up being. I don't think he has to worry about that anymore.
"The worry might've been, OK, this might be my opportunity to play. He's past all that. He's proven the doubters, and he's proven that he can play in this league."
Darnold has already smashed his career-high in passing touchdowns (28) and is on pace for career-bests in passer rating (108.1), completion percentage (68.4), passing yards per game (253.8) and TD-INT ratio (28-10) -- each of those figures ranks in the top eight among qualifying QBs in 2024.
The 27-year-old leads the NFL with 11 games with a 100-plus passer rating -- the fourth player (fifth instance) since 1950 to have a 100-plus passer rating in at least 11 of his team's first 13 games of a season. Three of the previous five instances won AP NFL MVP in that season.
In his early years in New York and Carolina, Darnold would wither amid pressure. Now, he's found answers. Whether it's getting the ball out quickly under O'Connell's guidance or, like Sunday, escaping pressure to find a big play to Justin Jefferson, he's improved leaps and bounds in that area. Darnold has two pass TDs and zero INTs in each of his last two games when under pressure, per Next Gen Stats -- 130.3 passer rating under pressure in Week 13 and 141.4 in Week 14. He had only an 80.1 passer rating under pressure in Weeks 1-12.
It hasn't always been pretty, with 18 turnover-worthy plays, per Pro Football Focus, but Darnold's stabilizing ability has the Vikings poised to make a postseason run.
"If every single day I'm telling them, 'Hey, let's just focus on today, don't worry about it,' then it becomes maybe I should focus on more than just today," O'Connell said earlier this week. "That's how I would handle it if I was him. I just can't say enough about how Sam's handled himself, thinking back to the different kind of moments throughout his journey this year and how he's maximized every single one coming out of what's been a very successful season, chasing improvement."
Darnold's improvement is about to get him paid.
Assuming the Vikings don't squat on him with the franchise tag to ensure J.J. McCarthy is fully healthy heading into 2025, Darnold should price himself out of Minnesota. He'll be the No. 1 QB on every free agent board. The once mono-maligned quarterback has earned it.
