Sam Darnold, MVP contender.
At the start of September that would have been laughed at but at the end of the month it’s a shocking reality.
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The Minnesota Vikings quarterback has been on a tear to start the 2024 season.
On Sunday, Darnold threw three touchdown passes in the first half against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field to take a 28-7 halftime lead.
All in all, Darnold completed 20 of 28 passes for 275 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
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Kevin O’Connell’s team moved to 4-0 for the season with a closely fought 31-29 win that almost saw the Packers come back late in the fourth quarter.
Before the season started, many felt it was only a matter of time before JJ McCarthy — the tenth overall pick in the 2024 draft — was the Vikings’ QB1.
But Darnold was swiftly given the keys to the Minnesota offense after McCarthy suffered a heartbreaking season-ending knee injury in a preseason game against the Raiders.
Since then, the former No. 3 overall pick hasn’t looked back, locking up the starting QB position, throwing for 1,132 yards and eleven touchdowns to lead Minnesota to an undefeated start.
He’s outplaying the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow, and doing it at a fraction of the price.
Reigning Super Bowl MVP Mahomes has the biggest total contract by far of any NFL player – a 10-year, $450 million deal he signed in 2020.
His AAV — average annual value — is $45 million per year.
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‘Action Jackson’ is being given $52 million a year to find a way to overcome the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC.
‘Joe Cool’ led the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI and returns after a season-ending wrist injury in 2023 to the tune of $55 million per year.
Veteran Darnold — acquired by the Vikings after they failed to lock down Kirk Cousins earlier this year — is being paid just $10 million in 2024-25.
His deal includes a $6.25 million signing bonus, a $2.5 million base salary that is guaranteed, and a $250K workout bonus.
That works out to $9 million in guaranteed money — assuming he meets the workout bonus criteria — plus an additional $1 million in per-game active bonuses he looks nailed on to achieve.
That’s just $10 million for a player outperforming the NFL’s crème de la crème.
Darnold was selected by the New York Jets third overall in the 2018 but quickly flamed out.
He was traded to the Carolina Panthers for second, fourth and sixth-round picks, going 8-9 as a starter before ending up as the San Francisco 49ers and Brock Purdy’s backup in 2023.
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The 27-year-old signal caller signed with Minnesota in March 2024.
A little over six months later he’s playing like the best quarterback in football — and giving the Vikings a major decision to make come the end of the season.
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