Sam Darnold went 14-3 last year. First quarterback ever to win 14 games in his first season with a new team. Exposed Peyton Manning’s old record. He threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, 102.5 passer rating. Made the Pro Bowl.
Minnesota let him leave for nothing. Didn’t franchise tag him. Didn’t make a competitive offer. Now they’re 4-8 with J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer running the show.
The Minnesota Vikings are the Minnesota Vikings because they make bad decisions. They’ve been making bad decisions for 64 years. They’ll make bad decisions for 64 more.
They Don’t Know How To Develop A Quarterback
Smart Team: We drafted this kid, and we’re going to let him sit his first year. Learn the playbook. Watch film. Get comfortable. We’re not throwing him to the wolves because that’s how you ruin quarterbacks. Kansas City did this with Patrick Mahomes—sat him behind Alex Smith, let him cook for a year, then watched him throw 50 touchdowns and win MVP. The 49ers did it with Montana. New England did it with Brady. Three of the four greatest quarterbacks ever learned before they played.
The Vikings: We just drafted a quarterback. We need to see what he can do. Not next year—now. If he doesn’t win right away, bench him. We’ll sign another Kirk Cousins type who wins us 10 games every other year and then disappears in January.
Here’s the wild part. The Vikings actually developed a quarterback once. Daunte Culpepper sat behind Randall Cunningham and Jeff George for two years before starting in 2000. It worked. Three Pro Bowls. Led the league in touchdown passes. Then the organization learned absolutely nothing from it and went right back to the carousel.
McCarthy will start again eventually. Maybe he’s good. Doesn’t matter. The Vikings have already shown they’ll bail the moment things get uncertain. That’s what they do.
A Dome Killed Their Dynasty
Smart Team: Football is meant to be played outside. The cold is an advantage. Make opposing teams freeze in January while your guys are used to it. Green Bay does this. Philadelphia does this. New England won six championships doing this.
The Vikings: Let’s build the Metrodome. Indoor football. Temperature controlled. Comfortable. Who cares that we made four Super Bowls playing at Metropolitan Stadium in the elements? Domes are the future.
They moved indoors in 1982. Haven’t been back to a Super Bowl since.
| Years | Stadium | Type | SB Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961-1981 | Metropolitan Stadium | Outdoor | 4 |
| 1982-2013 | Metrodome | Dome | 0 |
| 2014-2015 | TCF Bank Stadium | Outdoor | 0 |
| 2016-Now | U.S. Bank Stadium | Dome | 0 |
Four appearances in 20 years outdoors. Zero in 43 years indoors. Correlation isn’t causation, sure. But come on.
The Vikings built a billion-dollar stadium with a fancy transparent roof because they wanted to avoid snow. They hosted Super Bowl LII in 2018. Philadelphia beat New England 41-33 while Minnesota sat home after getting destroyed 38-7 in the NFC Championship. In their own building’s first playoff year, they couldn’t even get there.
Bud Grant coached outside. Fran Tarkenton played outside. The Purple People Eaters terrorized people in December wind chills. Then Minnesota decided comfort mattered more than championships.
First-Round Picks Should Win Championships, Not Catch Passes
Smart Team: Draft quarterbacks, offensive linemen, defensive front seven. Build the trenches. Wide receivers and cornerbacks are everywhere—you can find them in rounds two through four, sign them in free agency. Don’t waste premium picks on skill positions.
The Vikings: Justin Jefferson, 22nd overall. Laquon Treadwell, 23rd overall. Cordarrelle Patterson, 29th overall. Trae Waynes, 11th overall. Xavier Rhodes, 25th overall. Mike Hughes, 30th overall. Jeff Gladney, 31st overall.
Jefferson is spectacular. Best receiver in football. But they also took Gladney in the same draft, a cornerback who never played a meaningful snap for the team. Treadwell was a disaster. Waynes was fine. Hughes couldn’t stay healthy. Patterson became a good player—for other teams.
Meanwhile, they’ve drafted one quarterback in the first round since 2011. McCarthy. Got him hurt in a meaningless preseason game.
Pittsburgh drafts linemen and defensive players. Six championships. Dallas under Jimmy Johnson drafted Aikman and built the trenches around him. Three championships. The Vikings take receivers and corners, cross their fingers, wonder why January never works out.
They’ve Never Hired A Head Coach With NFL Head Coaching Experience
Smart Team: Bill Belichick flopped in Cleveland, learned from it, built a dynasty in New England. Andy Reid couldn’t win the big one in Philadelphia, went to Kansas City, won three. Tom Coughlin got fired by Jacksonville, won two with the Giants. Bruce Arians retired from Arizona, came back, won one in Tampa.
The Vikings: Kevin O’Connell is shiny and new. Mike Zimmer was shiny and new. Leslie Frazier was shiny and new. Brad Childress was shiny and new.
64 years. Not one head coach with previous NFL head coaching experience. Not one. Bud Grant had Canadian Football League experience, which is why he actually got them to Super Bowls. Everyone else has been a first-timer, figuring it out on the job.
Experience matters. Learning from failure matters. Minnesota prefers the mystery box.
2026 Will Probably Be Fine
The Vikings always bounce back during the regular season. It’s their specialty. They’ll win 10, maybe 11 games next year. Make the playoffs as a wild card. Fans will start talking about Super Bowl windows again. O’Connell is a good coach. Jefferson is generational. The defense has pieces.
Then January will come. And the Vikings won’t matter anymore because they never matter in January. Let alone February.
The franchise will make a decision that looks reasonable at the time—trade up for a receiver, hire another first-time coach—and five years later we’ll write this exact article with different names. The Vikings are the Vikings because they’ve always been the Vikings. 64 years of evidence says they’re not changing now.
