Vikings Do Not Place Franchise Tag on Sam Darnold

Christopher Gates has been the lead writer at The Daily Norseman since the site launched in July of 2006, covering the Minnesota Vikings day in and day out.

The deadlines for NFL teams to place the franchise or transition tags on pending free agents has just passed, and we now appear to have the answer to the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback question.

The Vikings elected not to tag quarterback Sam Darnold, a move that could have guaranteed him a $40 million salary in 2025. Barring a last-minute deal sometime before Monday, Darnold will hit free agency completely unencumbered and be able to sign anywhere he wants.

There had been some rumblings late last week from the Scouting Combine that the…