Vikings’ Sam Darnold decision gets final nail in coffin with J.J. McCarthy failure

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Minnesota Vikings had named Kyler Murray their starting quarterback over JJ McCarthy ahead of the upcoming 2026 NFL season. The move came shortly before the NFL preseason slate gets underway later this week and is a tough blow for McCarthy following his shaky first year as a starter last season.

Now, fans and pundits are reminiscing on what could have been after the Vikings’ fateful decision not to bring back current Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold last offseason.

“Last year, Vikings believed in J.J. McCarthy enough to let Sam Darnold leave in free agency. This year, McCarthy can’t even carry a QB competition with Kyler Murray to the first preseason game. Having 12 picks against 11 TD passes last year was telling,” noted Greg Auman of FOX Sports on X, formerly Twitter.

“This is exactly why the Vikings are MID. They had Sam Darnold in the building after completely turning around his career to draft NINE. Sam Darnold went on to win a Super Bowl, the Vikings have NEVER won a Super Bowl, and NEVER will!” wrote one fan.

Indeed, Darnold went on to win a Super Bowl in his first year at the helm with the Seahawks last year after the Vikings declined to bring him back in free agency following his stellar 2024 season with the team. Darnold did flame out in epic fashion in the Wild Card round that season, which certainly motivated Minnesota’s willingness to instead pivot to McCarthy, but that decision certainly isn’t looking great in retrospect.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how many reps McCarthy gets in preseason now that he knows he won’t be the starting quarterback once the regular season rolls around.

The post Vikings’ Sam Darnold decision gets final nail in coffin with J.J. McCarthy failure appeared first on ClutchPoints.