The time to make a decision on how they'll handle their quarterback position is fast approaching. Whether Minnesota will bring back Sam Darnold or venture forth into the J.J. McCarthy era is the question that looms over everything else on the organization's to-do list this offseason.

Heading into the 2024 NFL season, most fans had a pretty good idea of what the Minnesota Vikings were planning to do at the quarterback position. After investing heavily in the position heading into training camp,

"Kevin O'Connell told us Sam Darnold has earned the right to be a free agent," Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said Feb. 12 on "The Rich Eisen Show ." "That's a way of saying we're not going to use the franchise tag because we don't want to pay him 40 million.