PFF recently released a piece detailing every team’s best and worst signing from the 2024 NFL Free Agency period last […]
PFF recently released a piece detailing every team’s best and worst signing from the 2024 NFL Free Agency period last March.
Some familiar faces in Vikings lore pop up across the article, such as QB Kirk Cousins being Atlanta’s worst signing, K.J. Osborn being New England’s main gaffe, Linval Joseph’s deal with Dallas being their worst, and Marcus Davenport being Detroit’s worst signing.
A trio of former Vikings made the good list, however. Cleveland’s Jordan Hicks, Dallas’ Eric Kendricks, and Houston’s Danielle Hunter all got the nod from PFF as their team’s best signing.
And so, where did our Vikings swing and miss in free agency last season?
The Vikings’ Best Signing of the 2024 NFL Free Agency Frenzy: QB Sam Darnold
PFF explains their choice of QB Sam Darnold as the Vikings’ best signing of 2024’s free agency:
The Vikings brought in a mostly outstanding free agent class that spurred them to an outstanding season, but Darnold was the headliner who had a career-best season at quarterback. He earned an excellent 80.7 overall grade, with 34 big-time throws, as he played terrific football before the team’s final two games.
It’s been detailed a million times at this point, but after Darnold inked a 1-year/$10 million deal to (what we assumed) become a placeholder QB until rookie J.J. McCarthy was ready to take the reins. McCarthy obviously tore his meniscus during the team’s first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders, and Darnold became the only real option to start all 17 regular season games.
Darnold threw 35 TDs to 12 INTs, as well as 4,319 yards on a 66.2% completion rate with a 102.5 passer rating. He used the last of his magic in Minnesota’s Week 17 victory over the Green Bay Packers, and it was evident the lights had been turned on a little too bright as the magic withered away in a Week 18 battle for the NFC North and first seed in the NFC against the Lions and Minnesota’s Wild Card round matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
Darnold’s biggest contribution to Vikings fans other than a truly fun 2024 season was the proof that Kevin O’Connell can make lemonade with lemons and is the man with the best shot to get every bit of talent out of J.J. McCarthy. Now just may be the question of whether or not the Vikings could get anything in a trade for the former third overall selection.
The Vikings’ Worst Signing of the 2024 NFL Free Agency Frenzy: DI Jerry Tillery
The Vikings’ 2024 free agency class was a “banger,” as the kids would say today. Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, and Andrew Van Ginkel were all selected to the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl, and Blake Cashman should’ve been. However, you can’t hit on them all, although a miss here and there is forgivable, considering how truly elite this class was as a whole.
PFF explains their choice of Jerry Tillery as Minnesota’s worst free agency signing:
Tillery couldn’t repeat his career-best season of 2023, as he turned in a 50.2 overall grade. He tallied just 17 pressures and zero sacks across 256 pass-rush reps. The Vikings will be searching for improvement at defensive tackle this offseason.
Tillery signed a 1-year/$2.75 million prove-it deal with the purple team, and not much was proven. To the eye, he wasn’t terrible, but he certainly wasn’t great either. Per PFF, out of 219 qualifying defensive interior linemen, Tillery’s 51.6 defensive grade was 138th, his pass rush grade of 54.3 was 171st, and his run defense grade of 51.8 was 112th. Yikes.
