Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Josh Allen

Tuesday, March 4, 12:44 AM

League sources think that the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants are the two likeliest landing spots for Minnesota Vikings impending free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold, but the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers could also go after him. Tagging Darnold and trading him for premium draft capital would be the best-case scenario but that's unlikely to happen now that the Vikings aren't expected to use the franchise tag on the 27-year-old. The Athletic's Alec Lewis writes that it only makes sense to re-sign Darnold if his free-agent market is more depressed than expected. It will be more of a luxury since they have plenty of other holes to fill on the roster and don't want to hinder quarterback J.J. McCarthy's (knee) progression after they took him in the first round of last year's draft. Lewis says that the Vikes think the better plan is paying Daniel Jones around $10 million instead of paying Darnold around $35 million.

Saturday, February 8, 12:40 PM

ESPN's Dan Graziano writes that Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who won the 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player award, could be looking for a new contract in the near future. He's scheduled to average around $32 million per year over the four remaining years on his current deal and just made $14.5 million this past season. The problem for Allen is that with four years still left on his current contract, the Bills are unlikely to be in any kind of rush to extend him. However, Graziano suggests the Bills could find some ways to adjust Allen's deal to bring him more in line with the QB market, much like the Kansas City Chiefs have done with superstar QB Patrick Mahomes since he signed his big deal in 2020. Despite falling short of the 4,000-yard passing mark for the first time since 2019, Allen threw 28 touchdowns and a career-low six picks and has 27 rushing TDs the last two years to finish as a top-five fantasy QB.