At the start of the offseason, the Vikings were one of the hottest topics in the NFL rumor mill—and for good reason. All eyes were on Sam Darnold’s contract situation and what J.J. McCarthy’s second year would look like. But now? Darnold’s about to hit free agency, and McCarthy is gearing up to kick off his era in Minnesota. Safe to say, the Vikings’ QB drama is serving up more twists than a Breaking Bad season finale. BUT!

Amidst Darnold’s potential departure from the Vikings, the team has agreed to terms on a deal with punter Ryan Wright. Yeah, you read that absolutely right. The guy who’s been the Vikings’ punter for Kevin O’Connell’s era is all set to play another season with the team. The Vikings shared the news on their official ‘X’ handle. “All Wright All Wright All Wright! The #Vikings have agreed to terms with @rjwright14_,” the team posted.

His contract terms? Well, you can just say it’s good enough for a fourth-year punter who was scheduled to be a restricted free agent. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the 24-year-old Wright signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota team worth $1.75M. Plus, he can stack up around $2M in incentives.

The Minnesota team signed Wright as an undrafted free agent back in the 2022 NFL draft. Since then, the guy has been the starting punter for the team, playing all 17 games in each of the last three seasons. And his last season? Well, Wright wasn’t just booting footballs—he was flipping fields like a pro.

He punted 56 times, averaging 40.6 net yards per kick, with a monster 66-yarder in the mix. Cherry on the cake? Nearly half of his punts (48%) pinned opponents inside the 20. Meanwhile, the guy had just five touchbacks in his third season with the team. That folks, is what we call efficiency. Pro Football Focus ranked him 17th out of 39 punters (72.3 punting grade). Of course, that’s solid. But there’s definitely room to climb.

That said, no wonder the Vikings did what they saw and now, the 24-year-old punter is returning for yet another season. Safe to say that the team has secured their punter after parting ways with Sam Darnold.

Will Sam Darnold replace Geno Smith?

Let’s be honest—when Darnold recorded a career-reviving season with the Vikings, we all felt that Minnesota will offer him a lucrative deal. But nah, the Vikings surely looked it other way. You see, Darnold had the best season of his pro football career, no doubt. However, his 68 career interceptions surely worked like the Jurassic Park security system. The result? He’s now a free agent.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to stack a pretty payday in the 2025 season. No, no, that’s surely not going to happen. In fact, the rumors say that the 27-year-0ld QB will join the Seattle Seahawks. After trading Geno Smith to the Raiders, Seahawks are in dire need of a QB and looks like Darnold is their top choice.

According to Jordan Schultz, “The #Seahawks, after trading Geno Smith to the #Raiders, have shifted their primary focus to Sam Darnold. He is their No. 1 option, and there is mutual interest on his behalf as well (per sources).” See it this way: Darnold is coming after a breakout season and the Seahawks are looking for a quality quarterback. No wonder the interest is reportedly mutual. But what about the contract terms?

Because Darnold is not coming with a discount. Well, according to a free agency prediction piece from Matt Johnson at Sportsnaut, the 27-year-old QB is expected to join Seattle on a three-year deal worth $40M per season. Yeah, that’s a good deal for Darnold. However, it can result in a couple of conclusions.

For starters, if he performs with the same caliber as of the last season, then it’s pretty much certain that the Seahawks would like to stick with him. Because, let’s be obvious for a while. Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record and finished his regular season with 4,319 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 102.5 passer rating, while completing 66.2% of his passes.

However, if he starts seeing ghosts on the field again, well… that $40 million deal might turn into a short-term rental. So all in all, if the Seahawks are going to sign Sam Darnold, let’s just hope the guy kicks off his 2025 season where is left off in 2024.