Vikings make eye-opening Daniel Jones move ahead of wild-card clash against Rams

Daniel Jones was last seen on the field in November, when he led the New York Giants to a conference-worst record before leaving. Now, he is getting a chance to play again.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings elevated the quarterback to their 53-man roster ahead of their Wild Card matchup at the Los Angeles Rams. To make this move, they released Brett Rypien.

Head coach Kevon O'Connell has been asked about the possibility of adding him to the roster during a presser on Monday:

"We're gonna have some dialogue about that as far as the timing of it. Daniel's been quietly, behind the scenes, putting in some phenomenal work. I’m probably more excited now than, even as excited as I was to get him in here day one, just by what he's shown us already. So that's definitely something we're gonna talk about.

"I feel so fortunate to have, with J.J. really back full speed in those meetings. I mean, you walk in there, you got five quarterbacks sitting there."

Jones, the sixth overall pick of the 2019 Draft completed 216 of 341 attempts for 2,070 yards and eight touchdowns against seven interceptions. A day after a loss to the Carolina Panthers in Germany, he was benched for Tommy DeVito, which led him to push for his release. He joined the Vikings' practice squad after clearing waivers and has not played since.

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Will Daniel Jones remain a Viking beyond 2024-25 playoffs?

There is still one important question looming: will Daniel Jones continue wearing purple and gold in 2025?

The organization initially viewed Sam Darnold as a stopgap while JJ McCarthy recovered from his knee injury, but has since seemingly changed its stance after seeing Darnold win 15 games - the most by a quarterback in his first season with a new team - and is now willing to keep him around.

Darren Wolfson, a football reporter for KSTP, told SKOR North's "Mackey and Judd Show" last week that he foresaw the former Giant remaining with the team (go to 2:59):

“On Daniel Jones, yes, there is a mutual interest, that continued, that Daniel Jones is with the Vikings next year.”

The Vikings-Rams game kicks off at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT on ESPN/ABC.