Who Should I Start? C.J. Beathard or Sam Darnold

Monday, September 30, 6:52 PM

The New York Giants worked out veteran free-agent quarterback C.J. Beathard (groin) on Monday. Beathard is on the free-agent market after being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars in August with an injury settlement after he lost the competition for the backup job to Mac Jones. The 30-year-old injured his groin in Jacksonville's second preseason game, but he figures to be healthy now as he looks to land a backup job with another club. The Giants currently have Daniel Jones as their starter under center, with Drew Lock backing him up and Tommy Devito as the QB3. None of New York's QBs are currently injured, so the G-Men are likely just doing their due diligence to potentially add more depth at the position heading into a Week 5 tilt on the road at Lumen Field against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday.

Tuesday, February 18, 4:25 PM

ESPN's Kevin Seifert reports that the Minnesota Vikings are in no rush to place the franchise tag on impending free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold despite his career year in 2024. It doesn't mean they won't eventually use it on the 27-year-old signal-caller, and it doesn't rule out the team giving him a multi-year extension. Another option is that the Vikings tag Darnold and then trade him for draft-pick compensation. Keeping Darnold on the tag in 2025 would cost Minnesota around $40 million, which would be a questionable decision with former first-rounder J.J. McCarthy (knee) waiting in the wings as the franchise QB. Seifert believes the most likely scenario is that the team lets Darnold sign elsewhere while saving the tag for a player like cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who had a career-high six interceptions in 2024. Darnold set career-highs last year across the board but also had just one TD and a 53% completion percentage in the last two games.