Fewer Problems Means More Pressure For Vikings Quarterbacks
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
With the 2024 NFL season approaching, the Minnesota Vikings have set their quarterbacks up for success. They’re also placing unspoken, immediate pressure on whichever player lines up under center.
Minnesota locked up a pair of young stars in the offseason. Neither were additions pilfered from other squads, but you can’t get more security than locking down a star wide receiver and left tackle. Justin Jefferson got a contract extension for four years and $140 million earlier this season, and just last week, the Vikings locked up tackle Christian Darrisaw for four years and up to $113 million.
“(He’s) one of the best young tackles in our league. All he has done is continually get better and better. The expectation is he is going to continue to do that,” O’Connell told Vikings.com. “Pairing him with B.O. (Brian O’Neill) on the other side, we feel really good about that tackle combination. Those [two] have been the heart and soul to go along with some of those guys on the interior for a long time now.
“We’re continuing to build and build, but having those two positions solidified for the future here feels really good for our team,” O’Connell added.
The two moves are nothing but positive and things get even better when considering they signed running back Aaron Jones to a one-year, $7 million deal.
With tight end T.J. Hockenson potentially making a return from his ACL injury sometime during the season — though the prognosis there is still reportedly a bit unclear — and receiver Jordan Addison (whose availability is also uncertain following DUI arrest) — proving himself last season, there’s reason to believe the Vikings have one of the best collections of offensive talent in the NFC.
The Vikings have built an Evangelion, but now someone has to pilot it. Whoever gets the starts in Minnesota — whether it’s Sam Darnold, who was signed to a one-year deal this offseason, or 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy — they’ll have the necessary help to succeed right away.
That’s both a blessing and a curse.
Speaking of Darnold, Minnesota appears to be going the route of his former team, the San Francisco 49ers. They’ve got several high-paid offensive players, specifically a receiver and a left tackle, thanks to a cheap quarterback giving them some slack with their salary cap.
There are, seemingly, two ways to form a successful offense. You can have the quarterback making $50-plus million and do whatever you can to fill out roster around him — think Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and even Tua Tagovailoa. Or if you don’t go Stars-and-Scrubs, you can follow the route that Minnesota just got on, with a low-paid signal caller allowing a more expensive supporting cast.
San Francisco is obviously an example, with Brock Purdy on a contract that is much less rich than his play suggests. The 2013 Seattle Seahawks are another great example of this formula working, with a young Russell Wilson leading them to a Super Bowl victory on a rookie contract.
The Vikings have the cheap part down. Darnold, the early favorite for their Week 1 starter, is making just $10 million this year. McCarthy is barely making over $5 million per season. Both signal callers combined make about as much money as Gardner Minshew, and it looks increasingly like either could start the majority of games this year.
“Sam will be taking the majority of his reps with that first group, but I think you’ll see J.J. maybe get some as well. But also, it’s about the quality as much as the volume of those reps throughout camp,” O’Connell told Sports Illustrated.
NFL rookie quarterbacks already have immensely high expectations right away. And goes for teams as bad as Darnold’s New York Jets, who didn’t have nearly the juggernaut Minnesota’s built up. So, if and when McCarthy gets on the field, he’ll be expected to lead the team to victories. It’s a bit of cliche, but the Vikings’ moves suggest the team is in “Win Now” mode. Even if it’s unrealistic, and even if the organization won’t see it that way, the expectations dictate that McCarthy will have to be in “Win Now” mode, as well.
If he’s great, he’ll get a contract extension in a few years. Scientifically analyzing current trends suggests quarterbacks will earn around a kajillion dollars by the time McCarthy’s rookie deal is up.
But that’s exactly why it will be so important to win in the immediate future, and specifically this year. The freed-up cap space that comes from shedding Kirk Cousins and going for Niners/Seahawks football means that the team’s window starts and ends with McCarthy’s rookie deal. Minnesota’s got the skill on offense, and like it or not, these quarterbacks will be judged by whether they can take advantage of the talent around them. The clock is ticking, so the pressure is on.
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