Quarterback Sam Darnold has become one of the most fascinating stories of the NFL season as he seemingly resurrected his career by guiding the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-2 record.
Much has been made about how the Vikings will handle Darnold’s status with the 27-year-old set to reach free agency in March as 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy continues his recovery from the complete meniscus repair that cost him his rookie season. During a Wednesday appearance on ESPN Radio, NFL insider Adam Schefter explained why he believes teams will call Minnesota about McCarthy before this year’s draft gets underway.
“In a limited quarterback draft class, where there are far more teams that need quarterbacks than quarterbacks who actually can step in right away, I definitely think teams will be checking in with the Vikings to see if they have any interest in trading J.J. McCarthy,” Schefter said, as shared by Joe Nelson of Sports Illustrated. “…McCarthy would’ve been a top, if not the top, quarterback prospect in this draft.”
While the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns could all have some interest in landing Miami quarterback Cam Ward or Colorado star signal-caller Shedeur Sanders during this year’s draft, ESPN’s Matt Miller pointed out on Wednesday he “wouldn’t be comfortable calling [Ward and Sanders] first-round prospects based on this season’s tape.” As for McCarthy, he became the fifth quarterback drafted last spring when Minnesota made him overall pick No. 10.
Some think the Vikings should try to sign Darnold, a potential Comeback Player of the Year candidate, to a multi-year extension and make McCarthy available. Others have noted that the Vikings can afford to retain Darnold’s rights for 2025 via the franchise tag to start him over McCarthy for another season.
With that said, Schefter hinted that McCarthy’s trade value before the opening night of this year’s draft could give the Vikings something to think about regarding his future.
“If the Vikings decided that they wanted to trade him, which I don’t know that they will, I believe they will get back everything they put into him and then some. It will be a [first-round pick] and then some,” Schefter added.
The Vikings will first wait to see how Darnold plays beginning with the upcoming “Sunday Night Football” game at the 14-2 Detroit Lions that will determine the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs before Minnesota makes any major call about its quarterback room for September. If, however, one team that was high on McCarthy last spring makes a so-called “‘Godfather’ offer” for his services, those running the Vikings may determine that locking Darnold down for a few years is what’s best for the organization.
