Vikings open door policy with Daniel Jones isn't good news for Sam Darnold

The Minnesota Vikings' incredible 14-win season ended prematurely in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, falling flat against the Los Angeles Rams in a game that was moved to Arizona due to the devastating California wildfires.

Quarterback Sam Darnold was a shell of himself over the team's final two games, committing three turnovers and getting sacked 11 times despite throwing for a combined 411 yards and a single touchdown. It was hardly the form Vikings fans were used to, ranked the fifth-best regular season passer this year by Around the NFL's Nick Shook for his 4,319 passing yards and 35 touchdowns.

Darnold was seen as a short-term bridge for Minnesota, who drafted 2023 national champion J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan in the first round of last year's draft. McCarthy suffered a serious knee injury in the preseason and was forced to sit out all of 2024-25. Darnold exceeded expectations and could command a serious market in free agency, if the team allows him to test it.

After the underwhelming playoff performance, that's seeming more likely. Especially now that Minnesota's general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, has made his stance clear on how he views the now three former first-round passers he has on the roster.

Could Daniel Jones usurp Sam Darnold as Vikings starting QB while J.J. McCarthy recovers in 2025?

"We're really confident in [Darnold], his work ethic and his preparation, but I can't sit here and tell you I know anything for certain," Adofo-Mensah said in his end-of-season new conference Jan. 16 (h/t Sports Illustrated's Joe Nelson). "I know that I'm willing to believe in the person that we have ... So if that's the course of action we decide, we'll go there confidently."

Adofo-Mensah is well aware he has a good problem on his hands but a problem nonetheless. The old adage said by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach John Madden goes, "if you have two quarterbacks, you have none." Well, Minnesota has three because it signed former New York Giants starter Daniel Jones in December after he was waived. There's no way the team can keep Darnold, McCarthy and Jones on the roster in 2025 but the newest addition might have the inside track according to Adofo-Mensah.

"[Jones is] a potential option for us going forward," he said. "That was one of the good parts about that move was trying to see, give ourselves options depending on what potentially could happen this offseason."

Now, it's not a guarantee Jones will be the guy next year, Adofo-Mensah also said it will take some time to see "if this is the building he wants to be in." But if McCarthy isn't ready to go in September and Darnold commands too steep a price to re-sign him, Minnesota may be left no other choice but to hand the reins to the guy who busted out of a bad situation in New York.