The Minnesota Vikings made a gamble last offseason when they decided to stick with their unproven quarterback in J.J. McCarthy. He was just one year into his career and had dealt with a torn meniscus, but the promise of being a top ten pick made the team almost have to stick with him.
However, what they decided to let walk out the door was both Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold, who combined for 7,149 total passing yards and 49 total touchdowns between the two of them in 2025. So while Vikings fans have to watch Sam Darnold in the Super Bowl with his impressive passing totals, they are left picking up the pieces of a broken 2025.
Vikings insider Alec Lewis talked about the decision behind letting Darnold go, specifically as he advances to the biggest game of the year. He shared the details on the latest episode of The Alec Lewis Show.
Lewis explained, "There was also the question of how McCarthy would handle Darnold’s continued presence. Would taking a back seat for another season help or hurt the youngster’s long-term development? Would it help or hurt him in becoming one of the team’s locker-room leaders?. . .McCarthy, how is he going to handle it? How is [McCarthy's agent] representation going to handle it? What is this going to mean for his long term development?"
This team making this decision for this reason is less than ideal, plain and simple. The Vikings have to start making decisions free of outside noise and pressure. Making McCarthy marinate for one more season would not have broken anything, but here they are now being forced to live with the decisions they have made while they watch Sam Darnold play in Super Bowl LX.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Insider discusses what made the Minnesota Vikings let Sam Darnold walk
