NFL fans settle J. J. McCarthy-Sam Darnold debate after Vikings win - "He's about to be on the trade block"

When the Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and brought in Sam Darnold in the offseason, the thought was that the veteran would merely be a placeholder for the inevitable ascension of the rookie as the franchise quarterback. However, that logic is now in need of serious evaluation after Minnesota won against 27-25 the Green Bay Packers in Week 17.

It leaves the Vikings with a 14-2 record. They are now leading both the NFC North and the NFC as a whole, knowing that a win against the Lions in Week 18 will cement that spot. Sam Darnold has led the offense to where they are now and is in the MVP conversation.

NFL fans are, therefore, saying that J.J. McCarthy should be traded away and their current starter retained. They took to X/Twitter to air their feelings, and here are some examples.

With the 2025 quarterback draft class not being as strong as in previous years, there was chatter that the needy teams might be willing to give up some picks for the rookie. Here are some more responses on the social media platform:

"If JJ McCarthy was in this draft, he’d be the clear #1 pick. I’d be curious to see if the Vikings hold a team at the top of the draft hostage in trade for him... If you’re Minnesota, how do you move off a guy in Sam Darnold that led you to 14/15 wins?," - questioned one.

"At the point where I don’t even wanna tag Sammy D anymore. Sign him long term and trade McCarthy, especially if you can get a 1. Two 1s next year. Trade back with one of them to get more picks. Draft best available CB or DT with the other 1. Like JJ, but Sams done too much" - said another.

"They should just trade McCarthy at this point, Darnold is their guy," - concurred a third.

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Vikings have a problem of plenty with J.J. McCarthy and Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold's performances this season have shown that there will be teams who will be willing to give him a top quarterback-worthy contract. He's also just 27 years old, which means he could conceivably play for another decade with any franchise.

Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy is 21 and a National College Champion. He was selected in the first round because of his potential and the Vikings might be loathe to trade that away. Another option for Minnesota might be to hold on to both for a couple of years more and see if their current starter can replicate the consistency and then decide what they want to do. That will give them the best of both worlds, but it will mean eating through McCarthy's rookie contract while they do that.