Kevin O'Connell and the Minnesota Vikings won 14 games in 2024 before the season ended abruptly with a wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday.
Let the offseason -- and the pressing questions -- begin.
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O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are entering the final year of their four-year deals with team president Mark Wilf opting to push extension talks to the end of the regular season.
Minnesota is 34-17 in the regular season over three seasons and 0-2 in the playoffs under O'Connell, who is the oddsmakers' pick for NFL Coach of the Year.
Wilf said he's "looking forward to a great future" with his current coach and GM after media reports suggested other teams would show interest in a potential trade for O'Connell.
For his part, O'Connell said Minnesota is "where I want to be. This is where I want to keep coaching and leading."
He and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown were lauded for the development of Sam Darnold, who stepped in on a one-year deal after Kirk Cousins signed with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. Darnold, the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft with the New York Jets, delivered career highs with 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns playing with his fourth NFL team.
"What he was able to do this year, when not very many people thought he would be able to lead a team to 14 wins, which is rare. The way he came in, committed himself to just a daily process to be the best version of himself," O'Connell said of Darnold on Monday night. "It did not work out in the end. I think Sam would be the first one to tell you. Could he have played better tonight? I'm sure he would tell you he could have. Could I have coached better? I promise you I could have. Could our team have rallied around a play here and there to keep it close? For sure."
Darnold, 27, might not be the future in Minnesota, and not just because of his contract.
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The Vikings drafted former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th pick in the 2024 draft, but he spent the season on injured reserve following knee surgery. He turns 22 on Monday.
O'Connell said in December the Vikings wanted Darnold to return. But after lopsided losses to the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and Monday night against the Rams, Darnold said he knows the focus will be on how the season ended.
On Monday, Darnold was 25-for-40 passing for 245 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a lost fumble. He was sacked nine times for 82 yards.
All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson said Monday night he trusts Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell to find the right answer to the QB riddle again.
"I didn't know who my quarterback was going to be [after last season], and I really didn't care," Jefferson said. "At the end of the day, I'll always say that I'm confident in myself to perform the same way I've been performing. But it's not my job to say who is going to be the quarterback or who do I want to be the quarterback. At the end of the day, they're going to figure it out, and whoever they decide to go with, we can work with that."
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