Sam Darnold’s shaky finish shouldn’t ruin his impressive season or impact his future. Several NFL teams need a franchise quarterback and Darnold proved he can be that guy in Minnesota, becoming the first quarterback to record 14 wins in his first season with a team.

No, the Vikings have not decided to run it back with veteran quarterback Sam Darnold, nor have they decided to move on from him and hand the keys over to rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. If anything was clear listening to head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah talk on Thursday afternoon at TCO Performance Center,

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah called it the “golden question.” Actually, it’s the Vikings, so it’s more like the never-ending question. What are they planning to do at quarterback next season? The context has changed but not the question,