Sam Darnold will hit the open market after the Vikings declined to place the franchise tag on their 2024 starting quarterback by the 4 p.m. ET deadline Tuesday.

Tagging Darnold would have set him up for a one-year, $40.42 million deal in Minnesota, barring the two sides reaching a new agreement by a July 15 deadline for long-term deals. 

Instead, he’ll be able to sign with any team that’s interested when free agency begins March 12. Clubs can begin negotiating with players and agents on March 10, also known as the “legal tampering” period. 

Darnold signed with the Vikings last spring, and he led the team to a 14–3 record while playing on a one-year, $10 million contract. 

At last week’s NFL Scouting Combine, Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell said the franchise was evaluating the short- and long-term aspects of trying to re-sign Darnold, or rolling with second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who will have a salary-cap hit of just under $5 million next season.

Tag, You’re It

Only two teams this offseason ended up using the franchise tag, which pays a player 120% of their previous salary, or the average of the top five salaries at their respective position over the past five years—whichever is greater. In 2024, eight teams used the franchise tag.

The Bengals placed the tag on receiver Tee Higgins for a second straight year, and the Chiefs tagged guard Trey Smith.

Higgins is set to make $26.18 million playing on the franchise tag in 2025, although Cincinnati’s front office has indicated it prefers to reach a long-term agreement if possible. Smith would earn $23.4 million on the franchise tag in 2025.

On Tuesday, the Cowboys agreed to terms on a new four-year, $80 million contract with defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who the team was reportedly willing to tag otherwise. That $20 million average annual salary is lower than the $25.1 million Odighizuwa would have made playing on the franchise tag this fall. Dallas also restructured the contract of receiver CeeDee Lamb to create $20 million of salary-cap space, sources told ESPN.

An already difficult Mavericks season just hit a new low.

Kyrie Irving tore the ACL in his left knee Monday night after falling to the floor in the first quarter of the Mavericks game against the Kings and will miss the rest of the season, according to multiple reports. Since the Mavericks made the shocking Luka Dončić trade in February, the 32-year-old Irving has averaged 39.3 minutes per game, the most in the NBA.

While the exact timeline for his return has yet to be determined, Irving will likely miss significant time next season as well, given that ACL tears tend to keep players out for about 8 to 12 months.

According to ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks, the injury will cost Irving the chance at a few bonuses. He was eligible for a $1 million bonus if he played 65 games and another $1 million if he played 50 games and the Mavericks won 50 games. He is also no longer eligible to make an All-NBA team.

The news adds to the Dallas season marred by the Dončić trade. The Mavericks front office—particularly GM Nico Harrison and team governor Patrick Dumont—has received significant backlash from its fan base for moving on from a 25-year-old superstar who led them to the NBA Finals last season.

Dallas had already lost several key players to lengthy injuries before Irving went down. Anthony Davis, the best player Dallas received in exchange for Dončić, sustained an adductor injury in his first game with the team that is expected to keep him out for multiple weeks. A week later, Daniel Gafford suffered an MCL sprain that will keep him out for more than a month.

The team also lost Dereck Lively II a week before the Dončić trade due to a stress fracture. 

The Mavericks currently sit 10th in the West—the final spot of the play-in tournament—and hold a three-and-a-half-game lead over the slumping Suns. They are only one and a half games out of sixth, which would guarantee a playoff berth, but the injuries make that climb significantly more daunting.

The one silver lining for Dallas is it owns its 2025 first-round draft pick. But the Mavericks currently have the 13th-best odds at the first pick—likely to be Duke’s Cooper Flagg—at just 1%. But Dallas does not own any of its first-round draft picks from 2027 to 2030.

Irving’s Uncertain Future

The injury also shines a spotlight on Irving’s contract. The eight-time All-Star has a player option for next season worth close to $44 million, per Spotrac. Given the severity of this injury, it’s likely Irving will opt in to that deal to guarantee a payday next year.

However, given the volatility in Dallas over the past month, Irving may look at different options once he becomes a free agent in 2026. The new-look Mavericks team was built to win in the short term, but Irving’s injury has dampened that vision. 

Dallas could also look to shop Irving at next year’s trade deadline to try to recoup some assets, assuming he is healthy (would be about 11 months since the injury) for a team that may be willing to take a half-season rental on the star guard—or one that could guarantee him a long-term contract before hitting free agency.

A key part of the James Dolan sports empire is teetering toward bankruptcy.

MSG Networks, the regional sports networks that are part of the Dolan-controlled Sphere Entertainment Co., is likely just weeks away from needing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The RSNs have $804 million in debt that is currently due on March 26. That debt was originally due last October, but it has been in forbearance for roughly the last five months as extensions were granted on that due date. 

The company, however, remains unable to pay the debt amid accelerating cord-cutting throughout the media industry that is hitting many RSNs particularly hard. Without a further extension or restructuring of the debt, the bankruptcy filing is almost certainly imminent. 

“If MSG Networks is not successful in negotiating a refinancing or work-out of its indebtedness, the company believes it is probable that MSG Networks and/or its subsidiaries would seek bankruptcy protection or the lenders would foreclose on the MSG Networks collateral securing the credit facilities,” the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Divergent Paths

Dolan historically has controlled one of the most prominent and powerful portfolios in sports, combining the NBA’s Knicks, NHL’s Rangers, two developmental teams, the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, the Sphere in Las Vegas, and the RSNs in a series of companies.

In some respects, those assets are still performing well. MSG Sports Corp., the corporate parent company of the teams, raised revenue 9% in its most recent quarter to $357.8 million. The high-tech Sphere itself continues to draw raves while it pared its operating losses somewhat in the most recent quarter to $142.9 million. 

MSG Networks, which shows the Knicks and Rangers, is grappling with both the broader media industry turbulence and the NBA’s new national media contracts that could claim more game inventory. Dolan has long complained about those deals, even as they greatly increased revenues across the league, and those objections were renewed in the latest SEC filings.

“Our affiliation agreements generally require us to meet certain content criteria, such as minimum thresholds for professional event telecasts throughout the calendar year on our networks,” Sphere Entertainment Co. said in the filing. “The impacts of the NBA and NHL national broadcast agreements, including the new NBA agreements that are scheduled to begin with the 2025–2026 NBA season, could result in fewer professional event telecasts of our teams made available to us for broadcast and impact our ability to meet these criteria. If we do not meet these criteria, remedies may be available to our distributors, such as fee reductions, rebates, or refunds.”

Dolan’s RSN situation, meanwhile, also resembles the saga of Main Street Sports, another RSN operator that went through a lengthy reorganization. That company at several points was potentially headed toward a dissolution, but now has a more solid footing with a new name and pared-down rights portfolio.