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By Trevor Squire
Contributing Sports Writer
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As it turns out, moving on from Kirk Cousins has been more complicated than imagined for the Minnesota Vikings.
After the Vikings parted ways with Cousins in the 2024 offseason, Minnesota drafted J.J. McCarthy No. 10 overall and signed Sam Darnold to be a veteran stopgap for McCarthy, who was just 21 years old entering the NFL.
Darnold underwent a career revival with the Vikings, making his first Pro Bowl to the tune of 4,319 yards passing, 35 touchdowns and 14 wins across 18 starts -- a performance that would make it hard to compete to re-sign him in free agency.
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However, the Vikings had other options to replace Darnold. There was a flirtation with Aaron Rodgers and a vested interest in Daniel Jones, yet both quarterbacks signed elsewhere due to the Vikings' investment in McCarthy.
Four games into the 2025 season, the Vikings are facing scrutiny for a failure to hedge the McCarthy plan.
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“I thought it was absolutely crazy what they did,” an NFL executive told The Athletic's Mike Sando, “and I thought it was crazy when they did it. To take a quarterback (Darnold) who won that many games and to go to J.J. McCarthy, who you don’t know can play, I just don’t get it.”
Scrutinizing the Vikings for not re-signing Darnold is convenient, given Darnold has replicated his success with the Seattle Seahawks.
However, a fairer critique from the executive was that the Vikings' best answer to backstopping their roster with a capable veteran talent was a trade for Sam Howell, who they later traded to the Philadelphia Eagles after he failed to prove himself capable in Minnesota.
"I think they certainly could have made a better choice," the exec added. "I just don't know who it was. I'm fairly certain it wasn't Sam Howell."
After trading away Howell, the Vikings signed Carson Wentz just two weeks before the season opener. Wentz has gone 1-1 since taking over for McCarthy, who is dealing with an ankle injury.
It's too early to say pivoting from Darnold to McCarthy was a mistake. Had Darnold not crumbled in the postseason, re-signing him to a multi-year deal and deferring McCarthy to a three-year development plan would have been reasonable.
But with the Vikings at risk of entering the bye with a 2-3 record with a loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, there is some merit to wondering whether they could have made more of an effort to keep Jones or find a more capable veteran backup.
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