Will Minnesota Vikings Regret Choosing J.J. McCarthy Over Sam Darnold?

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold singed a three-year $100 million contract this offseason. The former USC Trojans star was coming off a career best 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings, but Minnesota decided to hand over their offense to J.J. McCarthy.

Was this the right move for the Vikings?

Justin Jefferson Weighs In on J.J. McCarthy

Sam Darnold Minnesota Vikings JJ McCarthy Seattle Seahawks NFL Training Camp Justin Jefferson USC Trojans — Jun 10, 2025; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) practices during minicamp at the Minnesota Vikings Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Despite the success they had with Darnold and him still being relatively young at 28-years-old, Minnesota decided it was time to move on and begin the J.J. McCarthy era. McCarthy has been going through training camp as the projected starting quarterback for the Vikings in 2025. Here is what star Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson said about McCarthy to the media during camp.

“You definitely have to have patience. He’s pretty much a rookie…He’s still new to the scheme, new to coming out here and throwing it to these different receivers,” Jefferson said. “You’re not really expecting him to have the same mindset as a veteran.”

#Vikings WR Justin Jefferson says you “have to have that patience” with JJ McCarthy:

“He’s pretty much a rookie… you’re not really expecting him to have the same mindset as a veteran. You can’t really have that expectation from him.”pic.twitter.com/fiIi3GHsP9
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) July 25, 2025

Jefferson added that while he doesn’t have the expectation of McCarthy to play like a veteran right away, he does expect him to be great and progress each day.

“We do have an expectation of him being great. Him coming out here every single day and working his butt off and progressing every single day,” Jefferson said. “We do see that progression just on the second day of camp so it’s coming along for him.”

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Vikings Move on From Sam Darnold

The Minnesota Vikings selected quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy didn’t see much of the field as in his first preseason game, he suffered a season ending torn meniscus injury in his right knee.

Darnold started every game for the Vikings and had by far the best season of his seven-year NFL career. He threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions and led the Vikings to a 14-3 record and a playoff appearance. The Vikings lost their Wild Card playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, ending their season.

With Darnold just being on a one-year “prove it” deal with the Vikings, it was a big question during the offseason if the Vikings would elect to resign him and run it back. In the end, Seattle signed him and the Vikings moved on to McCarthy.

Only time will tell if this was the right or wrong decision by the Vikings. They had a quarterback that had his best season and led the team to a regular season win total they had not reached since 1998 and let him walk for a rookie that has not played in a regular season game in the NFL.