Another call for contract extensions...
Time for Vikings to lock up their future
Following Sunday’s dramatic victory, the Vikings control their own destiny to the NFC’s top seed — but now it’s imperative that ownership locks up the former journeyman quarterback.
After eight consecutive victories, including their dramatic win in Seattle on Sunday, it’s imperative for Vikings ownership to lock up their tall, talented, former journeyman quarterback.
Sam Darnold? The Wilfs can wait a month or more to make a decision on him.
Kevin O’Connell? The Wilfs may want to move fast.
O’Connell has produced two 13-win seasons in his first three years as Vikings coach. He has positioned the 2024 Vikings to compete for the championship of the best division in the NFL, and the No. 1 seed, with a quarterback (Darnold) who is with his fourth team and had never experienced more than a month of success before.
O’Connell’s contract is up after the 2025 season, and the Wilfs can’t afford to let him catch the scent of free-agency, because he may be able to name his price on the open market.
It’s possible that rookie J.J. McCarthy could perform about as well as Darnold as the Vikings’ starting quarterback, although Darnold is busy making that sentence look presumptuous.
Losing O’Connell would be far more worrisome, because every bit of the Vikings’ success is tied to his decisions and persona.
He coached Kirk Cousins to his winningest season, and had him playing exceptionally well in 2023 even without star receiver Justin Jefferson before Cousins was himself injured.
He has Darnold playing better than he has previously as a pro. He has kept Jefferson happy and productive regardless of the myriad defenses thrown at him.
He had the guts to hire Brian Flores as his defensive coordinator, knowing that if O’Connell had two bad seasons in a row, Flores might be his replacement.
O’Connell is part of a management team that has landed the Vikings in the top two in the NFLPA player satisfaction rankings, and this year’s team has displayed an ideal blend of cohesion and ambition.
O’Connell should be the leading candidate for NFL coach of the year, and he is thriving at a time when failing franchises are desperate for leadership and offensive expertise, especially if they have a struggling young quarterback.
The Wilfs declined to offer O’Connell an extension after his 7-10 finish last year.
That decision was understandable. It could also prove to be costly.
O’Connell should be one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches. All of the goodwill and respect the Wilfs have accumulated in recent years would dissipate if they let O’Connell walk, no matter how much money he was asking for.
Because we all know just how rich the Wilfs and the NFL are.
As for Darnold, two different cases can be made:
He’s playing brilliantly, and his performance on Sunday in Seattle indicated that he can handle personal pressure, team pressure and large moments.
O’Connell resurrected Darnold, so he could probably work wonders with a young McCarthy or another quarterback with a checkered past like Darnold. For O’Connell’s next trick, he could salvage Daniel Jones … or any other quarterback who has played in New Jersey.
At this point, Darnold, even after this spectacular run of play, has more to prove. Vikings history will not be altered by a No. 1 seed or a gaudy regular-season record. The playoffs will demand more of Darnold, and judgment can wait until we see how he handles that unique form of pressure.
The same could be said of O’Connell, but his ability to win games with Cousins, Jaren Hall, Josh Dobbs and Darnold makes him a stronger, safer bet than his latest student.
What the Wilfs want to avoid is getting to their 2025 training camp and having O’Connell’s pending free agency become a story.
O’Connell inherited a declining team, then won 13 games. He went 7-10 in 2023 because of injuries. This year, he has boosted his career record to 33-16, a .673 winning percentage. The second-best winning percentage in franchise history is Bud Grant’s .621 — and Bud got to beat up on the Lions when they were a joke.
My recommendation: Get O’Connell’s deal done as quickly as possible after the season ends … then let O’Connell decide who he wants his 2025 starting quarterback to be.
He’s earned that kind of trust.
Startribune
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
My recommendation: Get O’Connell’s deal done as quickly as possible after the season ends … then let O’Connell decide who he wants his 2025 starting quarterback to be.He’s earned that kind of trust.
Yep, of course we need to re-sign KO. But the last part of the article got me thinking.
This likely won't be the case but hypothetically, if KAM was pounding the table for JJM and KO was pounding it for Sam, or vice versa, I wonder who would get their way? We'll never know, but the GM should in theory have final say on this stuff. Just something I found interesting to think about. Reminds me of the Niners a few years back with Trey Lance vs Mac Jones. I forgot who Lynch allegedly wanted and who Shanny wanted, but that was a mess. I doubt KO and KAM would ever let that happen here.
The only real intrigue with the Vikings is timing and terms.
I suspect
KOC will get more than McDonald or Doug Pederson ($8-$8.5)
Less than the olde guard: Tomlin, Payton, Reid ($18-$20)
Jim Harbaugh signed with the Bolts for $16mm, his bros makes $12mm...Shanahan makes $14mm, McDermott $11mm
If KOC goes on a playoff run, he could make that Shanahan/Harbaugh range. He is not in the top 20 today.
LaFleur is going to be due an extension one of these days too - $6mm
https://frontofficesports.com/highest-paid-nfl-head-coaches/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
StickierBuns wrote:
I had a previous guess, but its gone up: I see somewhere between $12-$14 million per year.
Yup, I had him down for less when we were kicking around $'s figures.
He's about $5mm today, so that would be a real nice bump and probably make paying for groceries less stressful.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
StickierBuns wrote:
Gotta love the media, lets create controversy where there is none currently. KOC is signed through next season. He's definitely going to get extended with a fat new salary after the season. Their doesn't have to be any manufactured nail biting or hand wringing.
Totally agree. I know they need to lock KOC up and I believe they will. But the urgency shown by the media is so overblown. Not just in this case but consistently around the league.
I don't see a scenario where this doesn't get done.
MaroonBells wrote:
I don't see a scenario where this doesn't get done.
Providing his wife doesn't want to live in a warmer climate, It will get done. This is a topic for the off season and is a no brainer for the Wilfs. It will get done, but there's no urgency.
StickierBuns wrote:
Gotta love the media, lets create controversy where there is none currently. KOC is signed through next season. He's definitely going to get extended with a fat new salary after the season. Their doesn't have to be any manufactured nail biting or hand wringing.
Exactly, it's like c'mon guys... he's getting a bag after the season no matter how it ends. The culture, the X's and O's, the game day decisions, his personality. He's going to get a big fat contract extension after the season. No need to do it now when it would just be a distraction heading into the final weeks. I'm sure the Wilfs have made it clear to him and his agent they love him and it'll get done. So much drummed up drama lol
StickierBuns wrote:
Gotta love the media, lets create controversy where there is none currently. KOC is signed through next season. He's definitely going to get extended with a fat new salary after the season. Their doesn't have to be any manufactured nail biting or hand wringing.
No kidding. Just reading that article makes us all dumber. "Not signing him last year could prove costly". To who? The owners have nearly unlimited NFL cash. It's not like there is a coaching salary cap. Much ado about nothing. He's not gonna leave a choice situation for some unknown that wouldn't pay him any better than the purple.
StickierBuns wrote:
#Vikings DL Harrison Phillips on the coach of the year award: “It seems like a no brain decision to me that KO should be the coach of the year... When he speaks, he commands the room. I think he’s one of the best play designers that’s ever lived.”
KOC deserves Coach of the Year. The evidence piled up on his side is overwhelming. And that same evidence argues against Sam Darnold for MVP. Not sure if that was ever really a debate or not, but KOC, Jefferson, Addison, TJH--all those things argue against Sam.
MaroonBells wrote:
KOC deserves Coach of the Year. The evidence piled up on his side is overwhelming. And that same evidence argues against Sam Darnold for MVP. Not sure if that was ever really a debate or not, but KOC, Jefferson, Addison, TJH--all those things argue against Sam.
that same Darnold calculus applies to Purdy too...
All of a sudden you arent breaking out of game manager/system label if your life depended on it.
I'm not putting either of those guys in the Mahomes/Allen/Jackson tier, but Darnold may not be far behind those 3. He maybe next in line in the NFL QB hierarchy if he could replicate this year a few times.
Jalen Hurts and Burrows would be up there too imo.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
At -1000, Kevin O'Connell is the clear favorite for coach of the year. Next is Dan Campbell, at +550. https://t.co/SBaWnnayCz
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 2, 2025
I don’t know where this weird fear that good people are going to abandon us comes from. The literal normal timeline of a contract extension in the NFL is that if you care about keeping them, you don’t let them play out their last year of their contract, you extend them one year early. We literally haven’t gotten to one year early and people are talking about this like we’re negligent. Like how many coaches can you name that abandoned the team they built? It’s not many. Is it just Payton and Harbaugh in recent years?
Why is this opinion article writer talking about the offseason, when we’re going to be playing in the biggest regular season game in history this Sunday and then hopefully going on a playoff run. There’s a million possible stories out there. Why prematurely worry about the most successful version of this team in this century not doing something they’re definitely are going to do anyway when the time is appropriate for it.
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