Vikings Can Win 2025 Offseason, But Must Avoid Bears’ 2024 Failure

The Chicago Bears won the offseason last year but that success in March, April, May and June led to failure during the regular season. Their big move was drafting Caleb Williams with the No. 1 draft pick and hiring Shane Waldron to be the offensive coordinator. Williams had several impressive moments, but he was basically fighting the battle alone.

Waldron offered very little to help the rookie quarterback grow into his position and head coach Matt Eberflus was little more than a cheerleader for Williams. The Bears were featured on “Hard Knocks” last summer and the only thing the head coach worked on with Williams was teaching him how to slide when he had to take off from the pocket and run. Other than that, his main approach was to pat the quarterback on the back and tell him how great he was going to be.

The Bears got off to a hopeful 4-2 start before losing 10 in a row and earning a spot in the NFC North cellar. The dream of earning a spot in the playoffs fell apart after getting beaten by the Washington Commanders in Week Eight on a Hail Mary from eventual rookie of the year Jayden Daniels to a wide open Noah Brown. The Bears never got over that moment and both Eberflus and Waldron were both fired.

The Minnesota Vikings are in a far better position than the Bears were last season. However, the Vikings appear to be the team of the offseason in 2025. They don’t have a dominant position in the draft – just three picks at this point – but they have the No. 1 free agent in quarterback Sam Darnold and it looks like they can turn last year’s hero into a high-quality draft pick.

The pulse at the Indianapolis Combine indicates that teams have interest in taking him off the Vikings hands. The Las Vegas Raiders quickly come to mind, as do the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants. It’s possible that other teams could also come after him.

While Darnold will be a free agent March 12, the Vikings could franchise Darnold and then trade him to one of those teams for a second-round pick or more (a later-round pick). If the Titans, for example, really wanted him, why would they let him go to free agency when a franchise tag and a trade could ensure his presence?

The Vikings loved what Darnold accomplished last year, but general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah loves the financial flexibility of having nearly $60 million in cap space at the team’s disposal. The Vikings have their quarterback of the future on the roster in J.J. McCarthy.

O’Connell can work with nearly any QB

Head coach Kevin O’Connell fell in love with McCarthy during the offseason and the early stages of training camp before the No. 10 overall pick suffered a torn meniscus in Minnesota’s first preseason game.

McCarthy appears to be on track to take over as the team’s QB1 this year, but there are no guarantees. The Vikings also have Daniel Jones on the roster, and if O’Connell could coax a brilliant season out of Darnold, couldn’t he do the same with Jones if McCarthy is not ready to take charge as the team’s leader?

O’Connell’s greatest strength is his ability to work with NFL quarterbacks. He helped Matthew Stafford to a Super Bowl season during his time as the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams. He fine-tuned a memorable 2022 season out of Kirk Cousins.

O’Connell worked faithfully with a couple of retreads in Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens in 2023 before turning his attention to Darnold last year. This was his greatest success because Darnold had six undistinguished seasons under his belt before O’Connell molded him into a top-six quarterback in the NFL.

Darnold completed 361 of 545 passes for 4,319 yards with 35 TD passes and 12 interceptions for a season-long passer rating of 102.5.

If O’Connell came to the conclusion that he could work with any quarterback and turn him into a success, you couldn’t blame him. That appears to be the conclusion that the Vikings have come to, and that’s why they may have no qualms about saying good bye to Darnold.

Adofo-Mensah wants the cap flexibility to strengthen both lines and he clearly believes in O’Connell’s skill at working with quarterbacks.

If he franchises and trades Darnold, the Vikings have a great chance to win the offseason. Hopefully they won’t suffer the same fate as the Bears following their offseason triumph last year.