I think it’s pretty fair to accept that the Minnesota Vikings have got themselves in a bit of a pickle when it comes to their quarterback situation.

This time last year, they were marching towards the playoffs, finishing the regular season with a 14-3 record with Sam Darnold at the helm.

This time around, the Vikings are 4-8, it’s a lost season and they have no long-term answer at quarterback.

Prior to the 2024 season, the Vikings drafted JJ McCarthy in the first round, and it’s clear their long-term commitment is to the young passer out of Michigan. But Darnold had a great season last year and could have won that job had the Vikings wanted to show their commitment to him.

Darnold is only 28 years old, so he could have played at the top of his game under Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell for another 10 or 12 years.

But the Vikings drafted McCarthy and they felt they needed to give him that opportunity to see the field to, I guess, support their own belief that he was the guy moving forward in Minnesota.

It doesn’t look like that’s the case right now. Reports over the weekend suggested that the Vikings did offer a contract in the region of the $100.5 million deal Darnold got from the Seattle Seahawks, but the commitment was for just one year, as opposed to three with the Seahawks. There was an out for the Vikings.

They wanted Darnold in the short term, but their belief was still that McCarthy was their guy, so Darnold went to Seattle, where he is blossoming.

He’s approaching 3,000 passing yards on the year, has 19 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 103.1, while the Vikings looked lost without him.

McCarthy has just six touchdown passes in six games, 10 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 57.9. Max Brosmer came in last week against the Seahawks and didn’t throw a touchdown pass but tossed four interceptions.

Carson Wentz has been the best of the bunch this season when playing five games but, even then, he only threw six touchdown passes. The combined quarterback rating for the Vikings this season is 69.1, boosted by a perfect rating for running back Cam Akers, who threw a touchdown pass on his only attempt of the year.

The big problem here is, where do the Vikings go next? Because there is a possibility that McCarthy is not the answer.

He has looked lost and overwhelmed on too many occasions, and that kind of backs up what I saw in training camp prior to the season starting.

What I heard in training camp from reporters on the ground was that McCarthy is not at the level required right now in the NFL.

The good news for the Vikings is he’s only 22 years old, and they have time, but they had the bird in the hand in the form of Darnold.

Maybe they were put off by the way that last season ended with a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions and then an early playoff exit against the Los Angeles Rams.

But I think Darnold has shown that he continues to produce at a high level and, working with O’Connell, he would have kept the Vikings in contention this year.

That’s another worry when it comes to McCarthy: he’s got a great quarterback whisperer as his head coach, and he still looks like he’s playing against 12 or 13 men on defense every week.

So do the Vikings dip back into the draft and take another quarterback? Do they build around McCarthy? Or do they roll the dice on another free agent or potential trade?

My gut says they need to build a strong offensive line – which has been poor for all three quarterbacks this year – as they’ve got the skill-position weapons, and they should give McCarthy time.

But, all of the performances he puts forward at the moment for Minnesota are set against the backdrop that they could still have Darnold and could have been competing for the playoffs this December.

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