The NFL is enjoying its rare month in the shadows, so there will be a lot of talk about the upcoming quarterback competition for the Minnesota Vikings. Kyler Murray is the favorite to win the starting job over J.J. McCarthy in training camp, and many are interested to see how Murray will fare after the Arizona Cardinals released him last spring.
But NFL analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick believes that, while he may succeed, the relationship may not continue after this season.
“I’m really excited to see Kyler Murray in Minnesota,” Fitzpatrick said on The Rich Eisen Show last week. “…I do think it’ll be a one-year great experiment, it’s gonna work great, and then potentially tails off after that, but I’m excited to see how it goes this season.”
Fitzpatrick’s take — which was based on the narrative over Murray’s leadership skills, or lack thereof, in Arizona — is a solid one. It may even be proven correct depending on Nolan Teasley’s evaluation of the former No. 1-overall pick. But it was met by a familiar question that Vikings have heard since last season ended.
“Wouldn’t you think, though, based on the fact that the one year for Sam Darnold and then he goes and wins the Super Bowl somewhere else would cause the Vikings, if your prophecy is correct, that Kyler thrives in Minnesota for them to keep him?” Eisen said.
Darnold’s departure left some scar tissue for Vikings fans and has some believing they could have gone on a Super Bowl run if they had kept him for one more year. The Vikings are looking for a mulligan. Still, it needs to be established that Darnold shouldn’t have anything to do with Murray’s time in Minnesota.
Before the Vikings brought Darnold in, he was the quarterback that many remember seeing ghosts during a Monday Night Football game. When they signed him to replace Kirk Cousins in spring 2024, many fans were upset, feeling the Vikings were throwing in the towel on the upcoming season.
Of course, Darnold exceeded expectations. He led the Vikings to a 14-win season, and if it weren’t for the last two games, Minnesota may have been more inclined to bring him back for another year to complement McCarthy’s onboarding process.
Instead, everything since those two games has been reactionary. The Vikings let Darnold walk because he struggled in those games. A few months later, they fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah days after Darnold won the NFC Championship game. After Darnold went on to win the Super Bowl, the Vikings hired Teasley, a former Seahawks executive, as Adofo-Mensah’s replacement.
It leads to an interesting situation. Kyler Murray should win the starting job, and it could go a lot like Darnold’s first year in Minnesota. While it could be shaky at first, splitting reps with McCarthy, Murray is expected to find his stride and be the Week 1 starter against the Green Bay Packers. A big performance in the opener could get the ball rolling. Working with O’Connell, who has mastered riding good vibes early in a season, could be the key to putting up 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns — the numbers that got Cousins paid.
At this point, the front office could be seeing the same kind of ghosts Darnold was complaining about on a Monday night at the Meadowlands.
Letting Murray walk and handing the keys to McCarthy would be a polarizing move. It could be even more concerning if they dive into the free agent market for a quarterback like Baker Mayfield and pair him with a first-round quarterback selected during the 2027 draft. But it’s nowhere near the mistake of paying Murray just because Darnold left.
In hindsight, letting Darnold leave was a mistake; he was playing at an MVP level before the final two games. Still, bringing him back would have annoyed fans who wanted to see McCarthy play. However, the Vikings would have had a totally reasonable excuse to stay the course and give him a full year of healthy practice reps.
A lot would have to go right for Kyler Murray to reach that level of success. He would have to acclimate himself to O’Connell’s offense, which an actual rocket scientist had issues picking up. Murray would also have to play at a high enough level to make the $35 to $40 million investment worth Minnesota’s time. The supporting cast, which also played worse than you think last year, would also have to improve, and it would all have to come together for Murray to become an integral piece of the team.
That isn’t to say it’s impossible. Still, a lot has to go right for the Vikings to get there. Even Darnold’s return would have created some financial gymnastics. However. it’s not a steep price to pay if the quarterback is worth it.
It’s almost like the Vikings and their fans need Will Smith to walk up and flash The Neuralizer in their face to make them forget about Darnold. The result still stings, but it isn’t worth using it to cloud their judgment.
For a franchise that needs to move on, forgetting about Sam Darnold is the best thing they can do. It could allow Kyler Murray to thrive and earn the contract that many fear they’ll have to give out at the end of the year.
