Vikings, with movable piece Sam Darnold, are at the center of NFL scouting combine chatter

INDIANAPOLIS - For the second year in a row, the Vikings are the talk of the NFL combine, thanks to a quarterback situation that could reach one of several different outcomes between now and the start of free agency.

Last year, it was Kirk Cousins. This year, it’s Sam Darnold, who could enter the open market in two weeks as the top free-agent quarterback — unless, of course, the Vikings keep him, either as their 2025 starter or a trade chip that could help them restock their draft picks.

Their conversations at the combine could help them gauge what kind of market Darnold will have in free agency, or the return he might bring in a trade. Much of their reconnaissance work remains in front of them this week. On Tuesday, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the Vikings were still keeping their options open.

“We’re still in that place where we’re having all these discussions,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Every option’s afforded to us. When we did the move originally, we wanted to create optionality. Part of the optionality was believing and betting in a guy who’s young, talented, believing in our infrastructure, able to do the things that we can do with quarterbacks. And so we’re now in a position where we have options, and we’ll continue to work those options, figure out the best way for the Vikings to move forward.”

The first indicator of their plans will arrive by Tuesday, the NFL’s deadline for teams to place the franchise or transition tag on one of their pending free agents. Placing the franchise tag on Darnold would cost the Vikings nearly $41 million but would buy them more time to make their quarterback decision for 2025, or give them a better return on Darnold than the 2026 third-round compensatory pick they might get if he leaves in free agency.

J.J. McCarthy’s progress in his return from knee surgery could help the Vikings remain flexible. The 10th overall pick in last year’s draft, who tore his right meniscus in August, is back over 200 pounds, approaching his pre-draft weight of 218 pounds now that he’s resumed strength training after his rehab.

Coach Kevin O’Connell said Tuesday that McCarthy “has his sights set” on being ready for the start of the Vikings' offseason program in April. The 22-year-old had been cleared to resume on-field training in January, and the Vikings seem optimistic about what McCarthy was able to gain from his rookie season, when he watched Darnold’s practice snaps through the GoPro camera the Vikings attached to the quarterback’s helmet, while making regular use of the team’s virtual reality system and participating in all of the Vikings' quarterback meetings.

“The number one priority was getting him healthy, which we feel great about now,” O’Connell said. “But [then it was] how do we kind of offset some of that [missed practice time] through the use of the VR stuff, going through a weekly process that would mirror what Sam went through, whether that’s film study on a Tuesday, going through the early down plan on Wednesday, third down and red zone as the week progresses, and then being in that Saturday meeting where we go through the call sheet.”

O’Connell calls the Saturday meeting a “red pen meeting,” where he can cross plays off the Vikings' call sheet. In those meetings, coaches asked McCarthy to offer feedback on the calls he liked, and the ones he didn’t, as if he was the starter.

“We did that time and again, to try and see what we could get out of J.J., to make it so when he hits the ground running this spring, he’s in the best possible situation to do that,” O’Connell said.

It could put McCarthy in position to take over the starting job in 2025, especially if the Vikings feel confident enough about his development to save their cap space for the rest of their roster needs rather than paying Darnold. Daniel Jones, whom the team added to its practice squad in November, remains an option for the Vikings, possibly on a short-term deal that provides the kind of springboard that Darnold got from a Pro Bowl selection and 14-win season in 2024.

O’Connell’s Super Bowl week comments about how Darnold had “earned the right to be a free agent” received plenty of attention, especially given how closely they tracked with what the coach said about Cousins the year before. With Darnold, though, O’Connell’s words were more of a reflection on how much the quarterback had done to change the leaguewide perception of him as a bust.

“I’ve had great dialogue with Sam from the time the season ended, up until very, very recently,” O’Connell said. “The respect level is sky high. This process is going to play out both short-term and long-term for the Minnesota Vikings, and Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level. So, that’s a really good thing and I feel very proud to be a part of him getting to this point and we’ll see where it goes from here.”

For at least another week, the Vikings have all their options.

“We’re so proud of what he did for us. We’re so proud of this team,” Adofo-Mensah said of Darnold. “We didn’t end the way we wanted to, but a lot of good things happened. We continue to lay the foundation for the team we want to be, and we’ll continue to go forward.”