The Minnesota Vikings could make a splashy albeit contentious move this offseason, unrelated to Sam Darnold's free agency.

The Professional Football Writers of America have named Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold the NFL's Most Improved Player of the Year.

Minnesota was intrigued with Darnold after he spent time learning from 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, one of the league’s best offensive minds. Kevin O’Connell built on that, helping get Darnold selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time.

Darnold is now making the most of his time off ahead of what should be a very interesting offseason. On Friday, his girlfriend, Katie Hoofnagle, took to Instagram to share an offseason update on the former USC star. Apparently, Darnold appears to have taken up a new hobby.

After a stellar bounce-back season with the Minnesota Vikings, including a Pro Bowl selection, former USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold has been announced as a finalist for NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings were one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season, entering the playoffs with a 14-3 record. Darnold took over the staring quarterback duties in his first year with the organization and had the best season of his career.

Sam Darnold piled up stats this season, charmed the fanbase and probably earned himself a nice payday in the process. But will he get it from the Vikings?

Would Minnesota get the most value by franchise-tagging its quarterback? Who actually makes the final decisions on draft night?

The Minnesota Vikings got an exceptional year from Sam Darnold, and he's starting to win awards for his performance.

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,