Sam Darnold to Depart Minnesota Vikings After Daniel Jones Signing

The Minnesota Vikings will have a new starting quarterback next season regardless of how this year plays out.  

That is according to a report from Trey Wingo, formerly of ESPN, on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Wingo reported the news after Minnesota signed free agent quarterback Daniel Jones, formerly of the New York Giants, earlier in the day. 

"Daniel Jones to the Vikings makes perfect sense. No matter what happens the rest of this season, [Sam] Darnold won't be back with the [Vikings], per sources, which gives Jones an opportunity to play next season if 1st-rounder J.J. McCarthy struggles" Wingo posted to his X account on Wednesday afternoon.

Darnold spoke out about the team's decision to ink Jones during a press conference on Wednesday. 

Very, very happy to be able to be teammates with him. I’ve spent some time with him in the past -- great guy. So yeah, just excited to get him in here and be teammates with him. He’s played a lot of football, so just to be able to draw from his experience on certain things is going to help this football team.

For him to be able to come in here with this locker room, this coaching staff, just the organization as a whole ... we just got great people here, and I’m just excited for him to be able to join this group.

The Vikings are 9-2 and second in the competitive NFC North Division, largely because Darnold was an MVP candidate throughout the first month of the season. He has cooled off since then but is still having a career campaign in his first year under Vikings head coach and offensive mastermind Kevin O'Connell. 

Darnold has 2,712 yards passing, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on the year, per Pro Football Reference. His performance in 2024 is expected to garner the QB a significant annual raise from the $10 million Minnesota is paying him this season to around $32.5 million per year over a new four-year contract.