Instead of looking to the NFL draft for a starting quarterback, the Minnesota Vikings discovered one in Sam Darnold’s relative afterthought of a one-year, $10 million contract out of free agency. When the dust settles from Week 4, Minnesota—which is 4-0 this season with Darnold at the quarterback position—will be among the two or three remaining unbeaten teams. The only team remaining unbeaten in the standings will be the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, if the underdog Seattle Seahawks against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football end up losing.
That is extremely strange given that Minnesota has lost its last three games as an underdog, all against clubs (the 49ers, Texans, and Packers) that not only qualified for the playoffs but also emerged victorious in at least one postseason contest.
Regarding Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated, the Vikings ought to have seen enough to proceed with signing 27-year-old Darnold to a contract extension at this point, even though J.J. McCarthy, an injured rookie, is still holding out hope. If the Vikings were to make Darnold an offer that would make him both a perpetual mentor and competitor to the recovering J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings rookie and No. 10 pick who tore his meniscus this preseason, Orr wrote on Sunday, September 29. “In short, we’ve seen enough to warrant the risk that Darnold would not be worth the return,” Orr wrote. There will be suitors for Darrold in the off-season. It makes sense that teams are drawn to the notion that gifted passers have a second life outside of the hellscapes from which they were drafted.”
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