While current contract discussions remain a mystery, Minnesota Vikings fans fully expect their team to move on from starting quarterback Sam Darnold in 2025.
Darnold was fantastic during the 2024 regular season, earning himself a Pro Bowl nod while helping the Vikings win 14 games. But with the franchise tag — at the hefty price of $41.3 million fully guaranteed for one season — looking like the team’s only realistic option to bring Darnold back in 2025, the Vikings will most likely let the journeyman QB reenter free agency with an eye on pairing J.J. McCarthy with another established veteran.
Could that veteran be a recently rejected, four-time NFL MVP?
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently laid out landing spots for Aaron Rodgers, who’s expected to be released by the New York Jets sometime after the start of the new league year. Benjamin named the Vikings as one of six teams who could realistically bring Rodgers in for a run at Super Bowl LX.
Here was Benjamin’s take on the pros of Rodgers landing in Minnesota:
They seem prepared to let Sam Darnold test the market after the rejuvenated quarterback’s late-year crash, yet they could also use a battle-tested arm as the unproven J.J. McCarthy recovers from multiple knee surgeries. Like Brett Favre before him, Rodgers could go for a spirited sendoff in purple, pairing with Minnesota’s ready-made supporting cast and taking on his old Packers pals in the process.
It’s hard not to mention Brett Favre, who famously moved from Green Bay, to the Jets, before finishing his career in Minnesota. For Rodgers — the QB who benefitted from Favre’s breakup with the Packers during the 2008 offseason — to follow the exact same path would be quite the NFL script.
The cons? Well, there are many. Rodgers doesn’t exactly project as a cheaper option than Darnold. He was making $37.5 million per year on the three-year, $112.5 million restructured extension he signed with the Jets prior to the 2023 season. Moving on from Darnold due to cash considerations is one thing, but immediately pivoting to the 41-year-old Rodgers — and likely paying him handsomely to do so — feels like an awkward step backwards for the organization.
The Vikings love McCarthy, and adding Rodgers this offseason would strip him of any type of fair competition in training camp. The former No. 10 overall pick deserves a chance to prove that he’s healthy and is capable of leading the team in 2025, and pairing him with a more common veteran — like a Darnold or Daniel Jones — still feels like the most logcial path forward.
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