The Minnesota Vikings have not made a decision about whether they're going to let quarterback Sam Darnold hit the free agent market this offseason, but they took a step to make sure they're keeping their options open on Tuesday when it comes to using their franchise tag — potentially impacting the quarterback market for the Pittsburgh Steelers .
The Vikings allowed Darnold's contract to void on Tuesday . Without that happening, Minnesota could not have used the franchise tag on the resurrected quarterback after his stellar season of relief with the Vikings.
They also absorbed a dead salary cap hit for doing so, something that could have been avoided if they intended to re-sign Darnold to a multi-year extension.
So based on the events of Tuesday , it seems unlikely that Darnold will be signing a long-term deal in Minnesota, but the Vikings are still holding onto that franchise tag for now.
The window to use their franchise tag opened on Tuesday, but it runs through March 4, so the Vikings have plenty of time to decide whether or not they want to keep Darnold for one more season.
Minnesota thought it was landing its franchise quarterback of the future when the Vikings took Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
That didn't pan out in 2024, when McCarthy was lost for the year to a preseason injury. Darnold played surprisingly well, leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record, the club's best since 1998.
That prompted throughs that Darnold might stick around for longer than the one-year deal he signed with the Vikings last offseason. But Darnold struggled in losses to the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and the Wild Card playoff to the Los Angeles Rams .
Now it's unclear what the market will be for Darnold if he hits free agency, and whether he's worth the $41 million for one season it would cost the Vikings to use the franchise tag on him.
The value is complicated by a very thin market at quarterback, and with McCarthy still recovering from his injury and not having yet played a regular season snap, the Vikings will not want to go into the season without a strong backup plan. For now, that could still be Darnold on the franchise tag.
The Vikings could also look to tag and trade Darnold to a quarterback-needy team. The Steelers have not been closely linked to Darnold, but are of course in the market for a quarterback and Darnold is one of the few with recent successful starting experience that could possibly hit free agency.
Even if the Steelers aren't specifically interested in Darnold, if the Vikings use their tag on him, one less option in an already thin market could drive up the price for the remainder of the free agent class.
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