NFL Rumors: Sam Darnold's next deal, Shedeur Sanders landing spot, Jets next step

We've reached Week 15 in the NFL, and while some teams are busy battling for playoff positioning, others who aren't quite so fortunate have already begun looking toward the offseason. Sam Darnold figures to headline the free-agent class at quarterback, but will Minnesota let him walk after a career year? Will Deion Sanders make sure that his son, Colorado QB Shedeur, winds up being drafted to an approved destination? And will this finally be the hiring cycle in which the New York Jets manage to get their act together? Let's go over the latest rumors from around the league.

NFL Rumors: Robust market waiting for Sam Darnold in free agency

As Sam Darnold continues to revitalize his career with the Minnesota Vikings, one big question looms: Will the team try to re-sign him in free agency, or hand the keys to top-10 pick JJ McCarthy in 2025? If Minnesota opts for the former, it could prove costly: According to Zak Keefer of The Athletic, Darnold is set to have QB-needy teams banging down his door next spring, especially given the iffy state of this draft's quarterback class.

"But Darnold won’t come cheap. It wouldn’t surprise me if QB-needy teams — in a draft year light on star power at the position — are offering deals north of $35 million per season for Darnold. Or more. In their minds, he’s a much better bet than taking a rookie in this year’s class."

There are still plenty of question marks around Darnold, who still has the propensity for making back-breaking mistakes and has been propped up by Kevin O'Connell's QB-friendly offense (and the presence of all-world receiver Justin Jefferson on the outside). But Darnold was the No. 2 overall pick once upon a time for a reason, and he's still just 27. It's not outlandish to think that a team with cap space would rather spend $35-40 million of it on Darnold rather than rolling the dice on someone like Cam Ward and risk setting their organization back years.

NFL Rumors: Deion Sanders insists he isn't engineering Shedeur Sanders' NFL landing spot

Speaking of the 2025 draft: At the top of that QB class sits Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, fresh off an impressive season for the 9-3 Buffaloes. As the college season has gone on, the rumor mill has kicked into overdrive about where Sanders might wind up, and whether his dad Deion will throw his considerable weight around — rumors that Deion himself hasn't exactly squashed.

On Saturday, though, Coach Prime did his best to set the record straight. In response to an anonymous report that Shedeur was "prepared" to be drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders or Dallas Cowboys — and that Deion was prepared to boycott other potential landing spots like the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns — the elder Sanders clapped back on X.

"A Lie don't care who tells it," Sanders posted. "Please stop trying to become relevant by misrepresenting my son."

It's still entirely possible that the Sanders family has a strong preference as to where Shedeur begins his NFL career, and if he wants to, Deion certainly has the ability to help make that preference a reality. This is a pretty strong denial, though; if it does come to pass that Shedeur refuses to play somewhere that wants to draft him, Deion will be living this post down for a long time.

NFL Rumors: Jon Robinson, Louis Riddick among Jets GM candidates

As a lost 2024 season begins to wind down, the New York Jets are turning their attention to finding the new regime that will hopefully lead the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2010. The first order of business? Choosing a new general manager to replace the fired Joe Douglas, and according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, two early candidates have emerged: former Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, each of whom is expected to interview for the position in the coming weeks.

"There will be other candidates as well, and the Jets plan to announce or confirm each GM interview after it is completed," reports Schefter. "But Robinson's is expected this week, with Riddick's coming at a later date, according to sources."

Schefter adds that the team isn't married to the idea of hiring a GM first before focusing on its head coaching vacancy, which would seem to leave the door open to a candidate like Mike Vrabel who's rumored to want a greater degree of personnel control. Robinson helped assemble a very talented roster during his time in Tennessee, including Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown, and his teams never had a losing record while reaching the playoffs four times. Riddick, meanwhile, has years of front office experience in both Washington and Philadelphia, and interviewed for the Pittsburgh Steelers GM job as recently as 2022.