NEW ORLEANS — The Minnesota Vikings’ Cinderella season may have come to an abrupt end after a first-round playoff loss, but superstar receiver Justin Jefferson believes quarterback Sam Darnold did enough to warrant his return.
“I would love to have Sam (Darnold) back and try to do it again,” Jefferson told USA TODAY Sports on Radio Row Friday ahead of Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans. “It would be phenomenal to have him back as the quarterback.”
Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record, Minnesota’s best regular-season finish since 1998. They became the first-ever 14-win wild card team in league history, but their expectations of a long playoff run were dashed with a 27-9 wild card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It came on the heels of the Vikings’ Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions, which would have given the Vikings the NFC North title and No. 1 overall seed.
But Jefferson said the two-game slide doesn’t negate all the success the team experienced this year.
“Having 14 wins in this league is not easy, and really only losing to two teams throughout the whole entire year — Detroit and Los Angeles,” he said. “To bring us to a playoff game, to win 14 games and only to lose three, that’s something that’s difficult to do. So I wouldn’t mind having him back in that building.”
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Jefferson said Darnold’s season was even more impressive considering the “negativity” directed his way after he signed with the Vikings in March. Many questioned if Darnold could be a starter again after spending the past two seasons as a backup in San Francisco and Carolina, but he proved just that. Darnold completed 361 of 545 passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 games and earned his first Pro Bowl nod.
“For Sam to go out there and have all of that in the back of his mind and still go out there and play his own ball, being confident and playing free … is a great thing,” Jefferson said. “I’m happy he put out to the world that he is a baller and that he can play this position in the league.”
Darnold is set to enter free agency after playing out his one-year, $10 million contract with the Vikings. It’s not clear if he’ll remain with the team, despite Jefferson’s endorsement. The Vikings also have rookie quarterback J. J. McCarthy, who the team drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2024, on the roster.
‘I feel like JJ is still going to have his opportunity and have his chance to see what he’s going to do.’ Jefferson said of McCarthy, whom he described as a ‘sponge.’ Jefferson added, ‘He always wants to learn and is always asking questions to better himself mentally and physically.’
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