The broad narrative consensus over the past few weeks, looking back on the Minnesota Vikings‘ dealings last offseason, was that Kevin O’Connell wanted to keep quarterback Sam Darnold – who had lead the team to a 14-3 record in the 2024 regular season – moving forward.
And in turn, that former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, was more keen to seek to reap the dividends from the organization’s 10th overall pick the previous spring, JJ McCarthy.
However, according to Mike Silver of The Athletic, this idea is not only challengeable, but would appear to be straight up false. Per Silver, O’Connell “didn’t hesitate” to help Darnold switch teams, and gave him a “glowing” recommendation to Seattle Seahawks general manager, John Schneider.
Kevin O’Connell Helped Sam Darnold Leave Minnesota
“In February of 2025, in the wake of Darnold’s breakout season for the Minnesota Vikings, O’Connell told reporters that the talented quarterback had “earned the right to be a free agent.” It seemed a noble gesture from the head coach, given that the Vikings could have kept Darnold by applying the franchise tag, but O’Connell, a renowned quarterback whisperer, didn’t hesitate to help Darnold relocate, saying glowing things about him to Schneider as free agency approached. O’Connell, after all, had a plan.” Silver reported on Super Bowl Sunday.
And from there, the two teams’ paths diverged; the Seahawks went on to reach and become favorites to win Super Bowl LX against the New England Patriots, whilst the Vikings limped to a 9-8 finish, having seen mostly-uninspiring returns from McCarthy thus far. So uninspiring in fact that many of the team’s leading offensive players have publicly spoken about the need to improve the quarterback play in 2026 and beyond.
Did O’Connell Really Choose McCarthy Over Darnold?
At this point, it seems like it. Granted, the final two games of 2024 – the loss to the Detroit Lions in the regular season finale and the Wild Card Round defeat to the Los Angles Rams did not exactly cover Darnold in glory, but it is quite possible that those games shifted O’Connell’s perspective on the franchise’s QB situation in a disproportionate way, leading him to come to the decision that he ultimately came to.
The article does not explicitly say that O’Connell fully kicked Darnold out of the door, but the honorable “right to be a free agent” talk and recommendation to another GM – in the same conference, no less – does not come when discussing a player that the team legitimately had thoughts to keep.
What’s done is done, but having seen what Darnold and McCarthy accomplished side-by-side over the past twelve months, O’Connell surely can’t have helped but had some envy towards the now-Super Bowl champions.
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