Who Should I Start? Sam Darnold or Will Grier

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.

Tuesday, November 12, 9:58 PM

The Dallas Cowboys have signed quarterback Will Grier to their practice squad on Tuesday. Grier was recently cut off the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad, but it didn't take him long to find a new home. He figures to join the team as depth with Dak Prescott (hamstring) done for the season. The former third-round pick has done very little since being drafted by the Carolina Panthers in 2019. He played in two games as a rookie and hasn't done anything since then. Grier is likely brought in as depth in case Cooper Rush or Trey Lance suffer an injury at some point. The 29-year-old figures to remain on the practice squad going forward.