Sam Darnold’s future has very much been in the balance over the course of the past 48 hours since the Minnesota Vikings‘ upset loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. Once considered to be $50 million/year quarterback prior to his final two highly disappointing games of the season,

Things then quickly turn for Darnold, as he had a rough game in a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions that cost the Vikings the No. 1 seed in the NFC and then he threw up another stinker against the Los Angeles Rams in a 27-9 wild-card loss on Monday night.

At the dawn of the new year, Sam Darnold was a folk hero in Minnesota. Not only did the quarterback -- no longer locally branded a reclamation project, but rather a full-blown, high-octane Pro Bowler -- sweep the rival Green Bay Packers to give the Vikings their best regular-season record in 16 years,