Vikings Linked to Former MVP as Replacement for QB Sam Darnold

Whatever happens with the Minnesota Vikings this season and during the playoffs, it is unlikely that quarterback Sam Darnold will be back in purple and gold next year. 

Darnold has proven more than adequate, not to mention well worth the $10 million investment the team made in him this season, as Minnesota is 8-2 and in the mix for the NFC crown during what might have otherwise been a lost/rebuilding campaign in 2024. 

But Darnold will be a free agent in March and looking to capitalize off of what has easily been his best NFL season. Still in his late 20s, Darnold profiles as perhaps the top free agent quarterback in the 2025 class, which puts him in line for a contract stretching into the $30 million annual range (half of the top QB deal in the sport -- Dak Prescott, $60 million annually with the Dallas Cowboys), or perhaps even more. 

That sort of deal simply doesn't compute for the Vikings, who spent the No. 10 overall pick to draft J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan last April. McCarthy will miss the entirety of his rookie campaign with a knee injury, meaning the team may decide to hand him the keys to the offense to begin his second season. 

However, there is also merit to the notion that Minnesota won't want to install a young signal caller without a single snap of regular season experience on the heels of what is likely to be a playoff run in 2024. In that scenario, signing a veteran to an affordable one-year deal makes all the sense in the world. 

Enter Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets. 

Jets owner Woody Johnson advised the coaching staff to bench Rodgers following Week 4 due to his (relatively) poor play. There is now widespread speculation that New York will release the QB, who turns 41 years old in December, heading into the final year of his contract in 2025. 

Rodgers said earlier this season that he planned to play one more year with the Jets. If the franchise is no longer interested in his services, Rodgers may simply decide to hang up his cleats and move on to new pursuits. 

However, as a four-time league MVP and one-time Super Bowl champion, the competitive nature of Rodgers may well drive him to take one last swing in the NFL in the attempt to end his career on a high note. Should he make that decision, the Vikings would be a prime candidate for his services. 

Rodgers departed the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota's chief NFC North Division rival, two years ago and wasn't on the best of terms with the front office when he did so. Going to Minnesota would afford him a chance to exact a measure of vengeance before moving on from football. The Vikings' set of skill-position players would also provide Rodgers with one of the best groups in the league to seek his revenge. 

From Minnesota's perspective, Rodgers would give them an affordable option to start the season as McCarthy builds up his reps and learns behind one of the best to ever play the position. If Rodgers falters, McCarthy can step in and the team solves its backup QB problem. If he succeeds, both sides are winners and McCarthy can step into the starting role in 2026 more prepared.

"The Jets will have to eat a ton of dead signing bonus money if [Rodgers] isn’t their quarterback next year, but that’s not going to stop them from cutting or trading him and moving into a rebuild,” Will Ragatz of ON SI wrote Nov. 19. "What if the Vikings get Rodgers, go win a Super Bowl and then hand things over to McCarthy — who will have just gotten to learn from one of the best QBs to ever play — a year later?"

Rodgers would remain a cheap option for Minnesota via a trade if there is interest from other teams in the QB and the Jets can get something in return for him. His base salary in 2025 is just $2.5 million, and his trade cost wouldn't likely exceed a Day 3 pick.