Sam Darnold NFL free agency landing spots if the Vikings don't tag him

After letting Kirk Cousins waltz into free agency last offseason, the Minnesota Vikings signed Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract.

He was never viewed as a long-term option at quarterback but instead as a veteran presence and placeholder until whichever signal-caller Minnesota selected in the 2024 NFL Draft was ready to take the reins.

That draftee, of course, turned out to be Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, whom the Vikings took with the 10th overall pick.

Kevin O'Connell's plan was seemingly to start the season with Darnold under center and then gradually segue to McCarthy. But when McCarthy went down with a season-ending knee injury during the preseason, that plan obviously changed. And nobody could have foreseen how things played out.

Just as Minnesota as a whole did during the 2024 campaign, Darnold exceeded all expectations and had the best season of his career, leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record while setting career highs in completion percentage (66.2), passing yards (4,319), passing touchdowns (35), and passer rating (102.5), thus earning his first-ever trip to the Pro Bowl.

Yes, Darnold struggled in the Vikings' regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions, a defeat that cost them the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the conference. And things didn't go much better the following week in Minnesota's loss to the LA Rams in the Wild Card Round.

Nevertheless, he's set himself up for a nice payday in free agency — if he gets to that point, that is.

While McCarthy is expected to be fully healthy heading into the 2025 season, there is still a chance that the Vikings bring Darnold back.

They may not offer him a long-term contract, which one would think would be somewhat similar to the four-year, $160 million deal Daniel Jones got from the New York Giants a few years back or the three-year, $100 million contract the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave Baker Mayfield.

But the franchise tag or the rarely-used transition tag, which would be cheaper and still allow Darnold to talk with other teams, could perhaps come into play here.

For the purposes of this piece, however, let's say the Vikings are 100% in on moving forward with McCarthy and look at a few other potential landing spots for Darnold.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a sticky situation as it pertains to the quarterback situation.

This past season, they had a pair of dirt-cheap options under center in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, both of whom played well enough to help Mike Tomlin keep his non-losing-season streak alive and get Pittsburgh into the playoffs.

Like the Vikings, though, the Steelers were rolled in the Wild Card Round, taking a 28-14 loss to the rival Baltimore Ravens.

Like Darnold, both Wilson and Fields are set to hit free agency. One would think Fields is already out the door, and offering Wilson a lucrative long-term contract at this point in his career seems somewhat irresponsible, given his overall dip in productivity.

The Steelers also aren't in position to draft one of the top QBs in the upcoming draft without trading up, which they typically don't do. And with this particular QB class not being nearly as strong as last year's, the chances of getting a rookie in the later rounds who can make an immediate impact aren't great.

Darnold would seemingly be a solid fit in Arthur Smith's offense, as long as they can get him some help at the wide receiver position anyway. The Steelers do have the cap space to make him a solid offer, but like every other team contemplating this idea, they have to decide whether Darnold's surprising 2024 campaign was a fluke or a launching point.

Las Vegas Raiders

To put it mildly, the Las Vegas Raiders are an absolute mess and are clearly in rebuilding mode at this point after firing GM Tom Telesco and head coach Antonio Pierce, ultimately replacing the latter with Pete Carroll.

While just about every position on the field not played by Maxx Crosby or Brock Bowers could use an upgrade, quarterback is undoubtedly at or near the top of the list.

The Gardner Minshew experiment clearly didn't pan out, and Aidan O'Connell simply hasn't proven himself worthy of being a genuine QB1 option.

Now, there is a chance that the Raiders get a quarterback in the upcoming draft, as they hold the No. 6 overall selection in the first round. But if Cam Ward and Shadeur Sanders are both off the board by then, they could easily go in another direction. I personally like Michigan cornerback Will Johnson in this spot, but I digress.

Here's the thing, though. The Raiders will have to decide which route they want to take well before the draft, as free agency begins six weeks earlier. So, if Las Vegas believes that Ward and Sanders won't be there at No. 6, a decision must be made about trading up. To that end, if they don't feel either is worthy of a top-10 pick, then they have to start looking at free agents.

And that's where Darnold obviously comes into play.

Like the Steelers, the Raiders have the cap space to make this happen, and pairing Darnold with a veteran coach like Carroll could prove effective. Bowers has already established himself as one of the top tight ends in the league, and while Jakobi Meyers isn't among the elite wideouts in the game, he's still a solid option for Darnold on the outside.

New York Jets

Hear us out on this one.

Yes, Darnold's run with the New York Jets after being taken with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft was a disaster, as he won just 13 of 38 starts before being traded to the Carolina Panthers in the spring of 2021.

But here's the thing.

Aaron Rodgers is likely gone, which leaves Gang Green with Tyrod Taylor. Like the Raiders, the Jets could be in position to take a QB in the draft, as they currently own the pick right behind Las Vegas at No. 7 overall. But they have the exact same decisions to make regarding Ward and Sanders mentioned above.

The Jets may have been turned off watching Darnold in the Vikings' final two games of the year, as he looked very similar to the player he was during his three seasons in New York. From an overall standpoint, though, he's clearly more polished than he was then.

And with the Jets perhaps ready to make some wild decisions in order to end the longest current playoff drought in the league, which now stands at 14 seasons, don't rule out a reunion with Darnold.