6 free-agent moves from NFC North rivals that Packers fans can laugh at

Minnesota Vikings

1. Signing Sam Darnold

When you lose your franchise quarterback even after going into the offseason with widespread expectations that he would re-sign, I guess you have to do something to save face – and the Vikings chose to give a one-year, $10 million contract to Darnold, who threw less than 50 passes last season as Brock Purdy's backup in San Francisco.

It makes it weirder when you remember that they've also signed Josh Dobbs and aren't exactly being subtle about their desire to trade up in the Draft next month. But this feels like there's a highly-billed-rookie vs Darnold training camp battle brewing.

2. Letting Danielle Hunter walk

The Jonathan Greenard signing makes plenty of sense – the Vikings wanted to get younger on defense, and Greenard seemingly had a breakthrough season in 2023. And while he's three years younger than Hunter, the former Texans pass rusher only really has one season of production to point to.

That's obviously not the case for Hunter, who also set a career-high sack total in 2023, but also has four other seasons with double-digit sacks to his name. Greenard has an out after two years and $38 million, so ultimately the Vikings decided they'd rather save $11 in the meantime and get younger. Maybe that works out eventually, but it wouldn't be surprising if Hunter outplays Greenard next season either.