The Minnesota Vikings enter Week 18 one win away from capturing the NFC North crown and securing the conference’s No. 1 seed. That one win will be a super challenging one—a road triumph over the Detroit Lions—but the fact the stakes are this high speaks to the special kind of season the Vikings have put together.

One might assume, then, that the quarterback responsible for this run, Sam Darnold, would have already cemented his spot in the organization’s long-term plans. Executives aren’t so sure that will happen, as only a “slight majority” of those polled by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believe the Vikings will keep Darnold.

Minnesota initially intended Darnold to be a placeholder while first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy found his footing, but basically none of that plan has come to fruition. While McCarthy lost his rookie season to a meniscus tear, Darnold spent the campaign putting together an MVP candidacy while throwing for 4,153 yards and 35 touchdowns (so far).

The Vikings would now like Darnold to extend his stay in the Gopher State, but what happens if he’s met by an aggressive market? Plenty of teams need quarterbacks, and the 2025 draft doesn’t seem like the best place to find them. There is almost certainly a world in which a team—or multiple teams—is willing to pay Darnold more than Minnesota can stomach.

Then again, there might even be a universe in which the Vikings have already seen enough from Darnold to lock him into a long-term deal and start fielding offers for McCarthy. Quarterback-needy clubs who are less than enthralled with the 2025 prospects will make calls on McCarthy, and if Minnesota believes Darnold can quarterback this team into the future, it has to at least field those inquiries.

In the end, though, the Vikings probably need to see more from Darnold, who’d previously been a draft bust and a backup to this point of his career, before making that kind of commitment to him. A franchise tag might be best for all involved, allowing Darnold to get a big raise (roughly $41 million) and Minnesota to get another season with him before making a major long-term decision at football’s most important position.