Who Should I Start? Jacoby Brissett or Sam Darnold

Sunday, October 27, 11:06 PM

New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett relieved rookie Drake Maye (head) during the second quarter of Sunday's game against the New York Jets. He finished the first half and was eventually declared the quarterback for the second half, too, after Maye was downgraded to out. Brissett finished Week 8 having completed 15 of 24 passes for 132 yards, plus one sack and 11 rushing yards. He failed to score a touchdown, but more importantly, he played turnover-free football and led an efficient game-winning drive near the end of the fourth quarter. In the event that Maye enters concussion protocol and misses Week 9 against the Titans, Brissett would temporarily return to the starting quarterback role. He's still off the fantasy radar in most leagues.

Thursday, March 6, 9:11 PM

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the Minnesota Vikings and impending free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold continue to negotiate this week after the Vikings decided not to place the franchise tag on him by the deadline this past Tuesday. Minnesota continues to say that they would like to re-sign Darnold for less than the franchise tag ($40 million), which would make it manageable to build the team around him in 2025. It's a delicate situation, as last year's first-rounder J.J. McCarthy (knee), who the Vikings still have faith in as their future franchise signal-caller, will be back this year after missing all of 2024 due to a season-ending knee injury that he suffered last preseason. Their willingness to bring Darnold back could mean they'd be fine having McCarthy sit and learn as the backup in 2025 before finally taking over in 2026. Either way, Darnold's best path to his highest fantasy ceiling in 2025 will be to stay in Minnesota.