The Minnesota Vikings‘ impressive season ended with a dud on Monday when they were knocked out of the NFL playoffs with a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round.
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has received heavy criticism on social media after he struggled against the Rams. The 27-year-old quarterback went 25-of-40 passing for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Darnold was also sacked nine times for losses of 82 yards, and he lost a fumble. It was a brutal performance for the QB who had an otherwise impressive 2024 campaign.
Darnold weighed offers from the Vikings and Denver Broncos as a free agent last March, according to the Boston Globe‘s Ben Volin. Denver’s interest in Darnold was also reported by Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports and confirmed by KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.
Some other QB buzz I’m hearing: Sam Darnold is weighing offers between the Vikings and Broncos, and the Browns are interested in Jameis Winston as a backup
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) March 12, 2024
Darnold ended up signing a one-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota and the Broncos later traded for Zach Wilson. Had Denver landed Darnold, the team presumably still would have drafted Bo Nix in the first round as a long-term QB.
Darnold completed 66.2% of his passes for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions this season. Wilson was a healthy scratch as QB3 for the Broncos behind Nix and primary backup Jarrett Stidham in 2024.
