After a career renaissance with the Vikings, Sam Darnold is set to hit free agency. Will he take the starting reins for the Steelers or Giants? Serve as competition for Anthony Richardson on the Colts?

Timing can be everything when it comes to new contracts in sports, and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold picked a less-than-ideal time to revert

“I love [Cowboys owner Jerry Jones] and believe in Jerry,” Sanders told ESPN on Monday night during the Vikings-Rams playoff game, per Adam Schefter. “After you hang up, and process it, and think about it, it’s intriguing. But I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body and the community.”

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,