What follows Sam Darnold? | The flock
Sam Darnold fought for the Vikings of Minnesota in consecutive crucial losses, including a defeat that ended the season against the Los Angeles Rams. Colin Cowherd discusses Darnold’s future in the NFL.
The Vikings of Minnesota are choosing not to use their franchise label at the Sam Darnold Field Marshal, Espn reported. The NFL teams had until Tuesday to decide to place a franchise label in the players.
Darnold will now be eligible to explore the free agents market when it opens on March 12, the official start of the new year of the NFL League. The measure does not guarantee Darnold’s departure because the Vikings have indicated interest in working potentially towards an agreement on a long -term contract, according to reports.
There are several teams that will probably seek to add an experienced field marshal to their lists during the free agency period, given that the Draft Mariscal market this year is considered widely thinner than class 2024.
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The Vikings Campo Marshals of the Minnesota, Sam Darnold, seeks to launch against the Atlanta Falcons during the second quarter at the US Bank stadium. (Matt Krohn/Imagn images)
The franchise label is a lever that a team can use each low season to prevent a key player in a contract to leave while buying time for an additional evaluation of a long -term agreement. But that one -year agreement has a elevated fixed price based on higher salaries in the position of a player.
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For Darnold, that would have been between $ 35 million and $ 41 million by 2025, depending on the type of label.
Darnold took Minnesota to an impressive 14-3 record last season, but the brass of the Vikings is considering several points in his list for updates. The main office of the team used a first round selection in the field marshal JJ McCarthy in the NFL draft last year.

The Campal Marshal of the Vikings of the Minnesota, Sam Darnold, pauses before answering a question during a press conference after a playoff game of the wild card against the Los Angeles Rams on January 13, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Darnold offered a strong performance in his first season at the offensive of the Vikings chief coach Kevin O’Connell,.
The Vikings have been occupied by weighing if it is worth depositing in Darnold’s continuous progression in a second season under O’Connell, while McCarthy gets another to look and learn after spending his rookie year in the injured reserve while recovering from a meniscus torn in his right knee.

The Campal Marshal of the Vikings of the Minnesota, Sam Darnold (14) and the coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Kevin O’Connell, and the fullback CJ HAM (right) before a game against the Detroit Lions at the US Bank stadium in Minneapolis on October 20, 2024. (Jeffrey Becker/Imagn images)
Although Darnold had a regular season, his performance in the playoffs expressed concerns. The Los Angeles Rams achieved a 27-9 victory in their postseason confrontation with the Vikings. Darnold was fired nine times and launched an interception in the game.
The Vikings would be online for a compensatory draft selection in 2026 if Darnold signed elsewhere this year.
“I have had a great dialogue with Sam from the moment this season ended until very recently, and I think my relationship with Sam has grown to a point where the level of respect is high,” O’Connell said last week in the combination of NFL exploration in Indianapolis. “Sam is in a position in which the NFL believes he can play as a field marshal at a high level, so that is something really good. And I feel very proud to be part of helping him reach this point. We will see where he is going from here.”