The Minnesota Vikings could not pull off a fairytale ending to their incredible 2024 season. The Vikings suffered a brutal 27-9 loss against the Rams on Monday night. In just over a week, Minnesota went from playing for the No. 1 seed in the NFC to getting bounced in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Now that the 2024 season is over for the Vikings, they have some difficult questions to answer about their future. This is especially true at the quarterback position, where Minnesota needs to decide whether or not they want to re-sign Sam Darnold to a long-term extension.
That decision is becoming easier to make as Sam Darnold's projected contract range is beginning to take shape. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler spoke with multiple teams recently to try and determine how much Darnold is estimated to be worth on the open market. Darnold's new contract is estimated to be in the range of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield's recent contract extensions.
For reference, Smith signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Seahawks in 2023. Just one year later, Mayfield signed a three-year, $100 million contract with the Buccaneers.
Darnold will probably net a contract closer to Mayfield's. Darnold will be 28 years old at the start of the 2025 regular season and led his team to the playoffs, both of which are more similar to Mayfield's situation than Smith's. The salary cap goes up each season, so it is possible that Darnold earns even more than Mayfield.
Fowler also notes that this means a $50 million per year contract was likely never in the cards for Darnold.
Now Minnesota can get to work on deciding whether or not they could afford Sam Darnold in that price range.
Justin Jefferson, Kevin O'Connell speak on future of Vikings QB after Monday's brutal loss

Kevin O'Connell may have dropped a hint about his preference during Monday's postgame press conference.
O'Connell dropped a vague statement about Darnold's future that suggests he would prefer to keep him.
“A winning quarterback this year and the consistency at the times he had it throughout the year and what that meant for our team, because I think that can stay with him moving forward as he goes back to work,” O'Connell said about Darnold and his 2024 season. “Proud of him. Proud of really everybody in that locker room, but Sam and the journey him and I went on this year will always be something that's a special place in my heart for sure.”
Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson gave a honest response, stating that he doesn't really care who his starting quarterback is in 2025.
“I didn't know who my quarterback was going to be [after last season], and I really didn't care,” Jefferson said. “At the end of the day, I'll always say that I'm confident in myself to perform the same way I've been performing. But it's not my job to say who is going to be the quarterback or who do I want to be the quarterback. At the end of the day, they're going to figure it out, and whoever they decide to go with, we can work with that.”
It will be interesting to see what the Vikings decide to do with Darnold this offseason.