Sam Darnold’s Best Fit in 2025, Teddy Bridgewater’s Return, Quiet Roster Need

VikingsTerritory’s Purple rumor mill is a two-day chronicle every week. All of the week’s Vikings rumors are placed in two places for review – Saturday and Sunday articles. Today is the November 23rd issue.

Purple Rumor Mill: Sam Darnold’s best fit in 2025, Teddy Bridgewater’s return, quiet roster need

Remember – rumors exist Rumors. What you read in these articles on weekends is what the world is talking about regarding the purple team, and not necessarily things that come to fruition.

Here is the first batch of the week. All past rumors can be read here.

Rumor: Sam Darnold could end up with the New York Giants in 2025 after Daniel Jones was released.

USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz this week firmly placed Darnold in the Giants’ 2025 rumor mill, writing, “His reward for a resurgent season with the Vikings is likely another foray on the open market and his fifth different team in six years.” Although After posting a career-best 100 pass rating, Darnold no longer appears to be a threat to retain his starting spot this season, with first-round pick JJ McCarthy expected to take the reins will after missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury.”

The Giants released Daniel Jones on Friday.

“After a 5-0 start that saw him earn NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors in September, Darnold stumbled a bit and saw his turnover-happy play come back with a total of five interceptions in wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts came to light,” said Middlehurst -Schwartz continued.

“This operating style may only be able to be mitigated rather than eliminated, so the Giants will have to evaluate how much risk tolerance they have after enduring Jones’ gifts. Nevertheless, with his aggressive approach he would certainly create more opportunities in attack in depth.”

This theory makes sense and Darnold could start back-to-back patchover quarterback assignments.

Rumor: Teddy Bridgewater is planning an NFL comeback.

Bridgewater is currently the head coach of his high school alma mater, Miami Northwestern, a team that is currently thriving under his guidance. But according to a Bridgewater tweet, he’s itching to get into the NFL. He wrote Tuesday: “So many QB jobs available to me after we reach this state championship. I can’t wait to get back to the NFL 🙏🏾💯.”

The post surprised Bridgewater fans because most believed he was gone for good. He seems to be loving his new position as captain of his high school team, but at age 32, a comeback is more than possible, especially if a prominent NFL quarterback is sidelined with an injury sometime in the next seven weeks.

The Detroit Lions, for example, Bridgewater’s most recent NFL employer, might make sense if QB1 Jared Goff were to suffer an injury.

It’s worth noting that the New York Giants released Daniel Jones on Friday, so he will quickly move up the list of emergency QB1s if an existing starter gets injured. But don’t rule out Bridgewater at 32.

Rumor: Minnesota will need a new WR3 in 2025.

Jalen Nailor dropped a touchdown pass from Sam Darnold last weekend that would have made Minnesota’s win over Tennessee a blowout.

He certainly has a chance at redemption over the next seven games, but overall Nailor hasn’t reached the level of a trustworthy WR3. KJ Osborn’s numbers from 2021, 2022 and 2023 were actually better.

Nailor feels like a WR4 guy, and yes, the Vikings could try another WR3 option next offseason.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube channel. VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis and opinion on all things purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Guilty pleasures performed: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, “The Sopranos,” Basset Hounds and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA just as closely as he follows the NFL.

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; All contract information from OverTheCap.com.