Pelissero: Most Logical is Darnold Staying in Minn

#Vikings WR Justin Jefferson on what he hopes happens at the QB position this offseason:

“Honestly I have the same answer (as last year), it doesn’t really matter who is going to be throwing me the ball. I’m still gonna go out there and perform.”

ArizonaViking wrote:
Just me...I say franchise him, trade him and get the draft picks while they're hot.

I agree with this.
I'm all in with JJM and either Danny Jones or Nick Mullens as #2.
Someone desperate (there's 3-5 franchises that fit that description) will take the trade and sign him to a 3-4 year deal.
Good for Sam.
Good for us.

KOC came right out & said Sam earned the right to hit free agency, it’s time for the JJ McCarthy era to begin & I’m looking forward to it. Build the interior lines & watch this team grow! SKOL  :exclamation:

This KOC quote is imo another example of the team saying "So long Sam":

"I believe Sam has kind of played himself into being kind of the marquee free agent quarterback available," O'Connell said. "I do believe that his teammates and coaches and our front office and myself, we would love to have Sam back in Minnesota. But at the same time we do feel very confident in J.J. McCarthy. He's healthy. We drafted him 10th overall for a reason in what was, in my opinion, a historically good quarterback draft last year."

StickierBuns wrote:
According to KOC, Sam is great....JJM is great.....Danny Dimes is great. He's the King of CoachSpeak. The cool thing is we'll know by April 1st how things will shake out.

He sure is...

Take a couple week breather after the SB and bam, its FA b4 u know it.

The NFL may be the best run big biz in the US

It's just funny. KOC did a number of interviews last week and every god damn Viking fan on the planet has interpreted each to mean something different--mostly, what it is they want to hear. He's really said nothing at all.

MaroonBells wrote:
It's just funny. KOC did a number of interviews last week and every god damn Viking fan on the planet has interpreted each to mean something different--mostly, what it is they want to hear. He's really said nothing at all.

He actually said the decision regarding QB has not been made yet. That's the only thing I heard. The rest was coach speak.
Tea leaves seem easy to read though!
Fans hear what fits their agenda I guess. The reporter for the Detroit free press could work for heavy.com, he's either an idiot or clickbait artist; probably both. Reading is fundamental, comprehension evidently isn't!

According to KOC, Sam is great....JJM is great.....Danny Dimes is great. He's the King of CoachSpeak. The cool thing is we'll know by April 1st how things will shake out.

It's just funny. KOC did a number of interviews last week and every god damn Viking fan on the planet has interpreted each to mean something different--mostly, what it is they want to hear. [b]He's really said nothing at all.[/b]

Pretty much. The big dustup was when the Detroit reporter misreported what he heard and then double downed, lol. 

I don't blame O'Connell as he's not going to divulge what their true plan is. Radio Row needed their interviews this week and the Coach of the Year complied. Good luck sifting through the smoke.

StickierBuns wrote:

....which is true because nothing has happened yet and won't for a bit. So in essence he isn't lying, but lets not act like they are throwing darts because they don't know what they want to do. They know and they have a plan. No matter what any 'insiders' say in the national media, nobody knows anything yet. And real info won't leak out until probably the very beginning of March. IMO, I think they are just going to let Sam walk, sign Danny Dimes and have a 'competition' with McCarthy for the starting job. Or maybe not even that, KOC will just say we're riding with JJM and Dimes is the back up. I think that is Plan A. But the best laid plans don't always work exactly how you want, so we'll see. One year at KOC University for Dimes is going to make him a decent commodity come Spring 2026 and he'll only be 28 years old.

This is the way I see it distilled to one point: you drafted a QB top 10 and moved up to get him. You're going to let him sit ANOTHER year before you see what you've got? And waste another year of that rookie contract? I'm wondering who that makes any sense to.

The Aaron Rodgers to Minnesota rumors are heating up now, lol. Silly aka Stupid Season is officially open.

He actually said the decision regarding QB has not been made yet. 

....which is true because nothing has happened yet and won't for a bit. So in essence he isn't lying, but lets not act like they are throwing darts because they don't know what they want to do. They know and they have a plan. No matter what any 'insiders' say in the national media, nobody knows anything yet. And real info won't leak out until probably the very beginning of March. IMO, I think they are just going to let Sam walk, sign Danny Dimes and have a 'competition' with McCarthy for the starting job. Or maybe not even that, KOC will just say we're riding with JJM and Dimes is the back up. I think that is Plan A. But the best laid plans don't always work exactly how you want, so we'll see. One year at KOC University for Dimes is going to make him a decent commodity come Spring 2026 and he'll only be 28 years old.

This is the way I see it distilled to one point: you drafted a QB top 10 and moved up to get him. You're going to let him sit ANOTHER year before you see what you've got? And waste another year of that rookie contract? I'm wondering who that makes any sense to.

Things I think we know pretty solidly.
• They’re not going to tag Darnold. They’ll let him test the FA market. KOC said Darnold deserved to see what he’s worth on the market. I strongly doubt they would tag him against his will after saying that outloud.
• Everything else is still on the table.

What is most likely happening.
• We have a contract offer on the table, for some number that is probably much lower than the market will provide, but is what we would happily take him back at. It’s probably also been said that he’ll be competing with JJM and the best QB will start.
• Darnold won’t sign that or reject it until until testing the market which won’t happen officially for another month. They’ll probably know earlier than that due to tampering, but no one will be able to say it outloud, but we might hear rumors.
• Darnold still might sign it, but probably not. He’ll get a life changing offer from somewhere else.
• 10 minutes after tampering period opens, they’ll announce what team he’s signing with.
• Basically the same thing that happened with Cousins
• In the meantime, they'll be working on a backup plan for JJM as a starter and will have those offers at the ready/sufficiently tampered.