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ESPN Insider: Injury Makes Vikings QB Reunion More Likely
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- ESPN Insider: Injury Makes Vikings QB Reunion More Likely
Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
This season has gone off the rails for the Minnesota Vikings . They are 5-8 with a roster designed to win now, and the most significant reason for that has been the play of quarterback J.J. McCarthy . He's not going anywhere next year, but you can bet Kevin O'Connell will want a better presence in the room as a whole.
The Vikings tried to pay Sam Darnold and keep him around in the short term. They offered Daniel Jones more money to stay , and didn't want to see him leave for the Indianapolis Colts . That level of desire for a veteran should rear it's head again, and a reunion with Jones now is more straightforward.
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Daniel Jones could be MN Vikings answer
This season Daniel Jones left the Minnesota Vikings believing he could win the Colts starting job. He was right and had them rolling until suffering a fractured fibula and playing through the injury . Now with his season over following an achilles tear , his future takes a significant turn. ESPN's Dan Graziano thinks the Vikings fit may now be there.
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Another is that it would make sense for him to go back to Minnesota, where he finished last season as Sam Darnold 's backup, and rehab there with a staff that knows him and wanted to retain him but couldn't guarantee him the starting job this past offseason. Either way, the idea of a lucrative, long-term contract extension in Indianapolis (or somewhere else) probably slides to the back burner in light of Jones' most recent season-ending injury.
Minnesota may need to compete with the Colts in order to land Jones if they so choose. That was the deal last time around, and J.J. McCarthy will still be present. How badly Indianapolis wants to tie their future to Jones probably comes into the equation, even if they aren't immediately ready to pony up on a long term deal.
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The difference for Minnesota is that Jones won't be ready to start the year, and McCarthy has already shown to be a work in progress. They don't have to guarantee him the starting job, and can further evaluate McCarthy as the calendar turns.
Jones has made the Colts relevant again this season , and at one point they led the NFL in wins. Now 8-5, they'll roll with Riley Leonard and the formerly retired Philip Rivers . What the Minnesota Vikings due to supplement their quarterback room next season remains to be seen, but Jones is at least now a bit more plausible.
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