What’s next for Sam Darnold? Vikings weighing options at NFL Combine

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INDIANAPOLIS — As he talked with reporters on Tuesday afternoon at the 2025 NFL Combine, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell beamed with pride when reflecting on everything veteran quarterback Sam Darnold had accomplished in Minnesota.

A heavy emphasis on accomplished.

Though he didn’t confirm that the Vikings were, in fact, turning the page, O’Connell spoke in the past tense a number of times, almost as if he had slowly started the process of moving on from the quarterback who helped his team win 14 games last season.

Darnold, 27, is set to become a free agent next month.

“He’s in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level,” O’Connell said. “That’s a really good thing. I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point. Now, we’ll see where it goes from here.”

It was a similar tone from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as he tried to sum up what Darnold meant to the Vikings during a memorable regular season that was, in the end, soured by a disaster in the playoffs.

“He played a lot of good football for us,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re excited about the potential for Sam wherever that ends up being.”

After signing a one-year, $10 million contract with Vikings in free agency, Darnold vastly outperformed his price tag while steadily rewriting the narrative on his career. He helped the the Vikings put together an improbable 14-3 record and completed 66.2 percent of passes for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns in the process.

At first glance, the Vikings would seem foolish to move on from that type of production, especially given how impressive Darnold looked at various points under the tutelage of O’Connell.

On the other hand, Darnold crumbled under pressure during a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions in the regular season finale — with an NFC North title, No. 1 playoff seed and first-round bye on the line — and then struggled mightily during a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the first round of the playoffs.

“When we did the move originally, we wanted to create optionality, and part of the optionality was believing in a guy who was young and talented, and believing in our infrastructure and the things we can do with quarterbacks,” Adofo-Mensah said.
“Now we’re in a position where we have options, and we’ll continue to work those options and figure out the best way for the Vikings to move forward.”

Free agency officially begins March 12, and there are a number of options the Vikings have at their disposal. That includes signing Darnold to a multiyear contract extension, letting him go to market or, maybe most interesting, placing the franchise tag on him. The deadline to do that is March 4.

If the Vikings decide to place the franchise tag on Darnold, they could do so with hopes of trading him to the highest bidder. That could help them ensure they get something for him rather than lose him for nothing.

The biggest unknown there, of course, is whether they’ll find a willing trade partner. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising if the Vikings are on a fact-finding mission this week at the Combine. Leadership from all 32 teams is in attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium, and Minnesota needs to determine if any team would be willing to give up an asset in exchange for Darnold’s services.

Those conversations could go a long way toward shaping who plays quarterback for the Vikings moving forward.

“We’re evaluating the short term and long term aspect of it,” O’Connell said. “It’s still early in the offseason process, and ultimately we’re excited about what lies ahead.”

Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Opinion: Time for a Shift in NYC’s Affordable Housing Plans?

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“A parade of mayors, Democrat and Republican, have also predominantly relied on the private sector over the past 40 years to address the city’s lack of affordable housing. Yet here we are, after spending billions of public dollars, arguably mired in a worsening crisis.”

Adi Talwar

East Village buildings that are a part of the Cooper Square Community Land Trust.

CityViews are readers’ opinions, not those of City Limits. Add your voice today!

Congressman Dan Goldman recently sent an email announcing his support for State Sen. Zellnor Myrie’s mayoral bid. One of the main reasons cited for this endorsement is Myrie’s plan to tackle the city’s housing crisis, which, the Congressman wrote, “leverages the private sector to jumpstart a housing boom.”

A note to Rep. Goldman: a parade of mayors, Democrat and Republican, have also predominantly relied on the private sector over the past 40 years to address the city’s lack of affordable housing. Yet here we are, after spending billions of public dollars, arguably mired in a worsening crisis. Maybe it’s time for a different approach?

In January 1985, as unhoused families spilled onto the streets of the city and into newspaper headlines, Mayor Edward Koch launched a five-year, $4 billion plan to build and renovate 100,000 apartments, a proposal that soon grew to 10 years, $5 billion and 150,000 apartments. The Koch plan was a major departure in municipal policy: For decades, the construction of apartments for lower income individuals and families was largely financed by the federal government. That came to an abrupt halt under the Reagan administration. 

With large swaths of the city’s housing decimated in the wake of the 1970s fiscal crisis and a wave of arson and landlord abandonment, Koch’s commitment of public funds was much needed. But the city’s resources, compared with the need, were relatively limited, so the plan relied heavily on for-profit housing developers.

The Koch plan became the template for ensuing mayors, though the Dinkins administration’s ambitions faced deep constraints from the recession of the early 1990s and the Giuliani administration was more concerned with villainizing low-income New Yorkers than building housing for them. Then came Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who launched his own ambitious New Housing Marketplace Plan—eventually growing to a $7.5 billion, 10-year initiative to create and preserve 165,000 units. As the Urban Land Institute noted in its 2012 award to the Bloomberg administration for the plan, one of its principal components was “harnessing the private market to create affordable and workforce housing.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio took an even bigger swing at the city’s shortfall in affordable housing, introducing a 10-year plan to create and preserve 200,000 apartments, later upping the ante to 12 years, 300,000 units at a cost of $16.9 billion. Despite his portrayal in the city’s tabloid press as a staunch leftist, de Blasio’s plan also largely depended upon for-profit housing developers.

Over the years 2014-2018, for-profit developers built nearly 80 percent of the newly constructed apartments under the de Blasio administration’s housing plan, according to a Community Service Society* report. A relatively small share of those apartments, just 18 percent, were affordable to the lowest income New Yorkers. Conversely, nonprofit developers created nearly double that share of apartments affordable to households with extremely low incomes—suggesting, not surprisingly, that the demand for profits has a direct effect on affordability levels.

Mayor Eric Adams, who once declared “I am real estate,” has basically pursued the contours of the remaining years of de Blasio’s plan while pushing the City of Yes initiative to make it easier to construct higher density buildings in more of the city. Adams also recently created a charter revision panel with the ostensible goal of finding ways to streamline the approval process for housing development. Prior mayors also made rezoning city neighborhoods and streamlining construction reviews part of their housing efforts, but didn’t empanel a charter commission to do it—leading some observers to question whether Adams’ real intent is to undercut the City Council’s own charter commission.

Despite all these initiatives over the past four decades, the city’s lack of affordable housing has seemingly worsened. On a recent February night, more than 85,000 people, including more than 35,000 children, spent the night in a city homeless shelter. As David Brand wrote last year on Gothamist, the vacancy rate for apartments in New York City was a miniscule 1.4 percent, the lowest in 50 years, and less than 1 percent for apartments renting for under $2,400. Among city households with incomes less than $25,000 (about 690,000 households in 2023, according to Statista) 86 percent were severely rent burdened, meaning rent swallowed at least half their income.

Such facts have led many housing advocates, along with some elected officials, to say it’s time to reorient the city’s approach and place a greater emphasis on social housing. Social housing is generally defined as housing that’s operated outside the profit-driven real estate market so it’s permanently affordable and controlled by community groups, building residents, or an entity like the city’s public housing authority.

It’s been part of the city’s terrain for decades. Public housing is largely a federal effort, and cutbacks in Washington have for years strained the finances of the 335 developments under the purview of the New York City Housing Authority. A recent CSS report noted that two of the city’s principal social housing programs, Neighborhood Pillars and Open Door, are thinly financed, a combined $70 million in the adopted budget for this year—not even a rounding error in the city’s capital plan.

Social housing proponents have championed bills in Albany and at City Hall that would help tilt efforts towards more community and resident driven housing. Earlier this month some 70 advocacy groups rallied in Albany for the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would give tenants the first right to purchase a building when the owner puts it up for sale.

Proponents are also calling for the state budget to include $250 million to help tenants make purchases. “The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act would protect us from the churn of our profit-driven housing market, creating stable, resident-controlled social housing across our state,” said Cea Weaver of Housing Justice for All in a press release.

Myrie, who has shunned real estate industry donations in past campaigns but not for his mayoral run, is the prime sponsor of the bill in the State Senate but makes scant mention of it in his campaign’s 24-page housing plan.

William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit

City Councilmembers hold a rally in favor of social housing legislation in 2023.

On the city level, the Community Land Act would give nonprofit groups and community land trusts the first right to purchase a building when the owner puts it up for sale. Another component of the act would require the city to prioritize land trusts and other nonprofits when selling public land.

More than 100 community groups, from the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development to the New Economy Project to the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, have endorsed the provisions of the land act, which has stalled in the City Council, facing opposition from Mayor Adams and developers.

It would be wrong to dismiss the efforts of the past 40 years. Thousands of apartments were created or preserved at varying levels of affordability (though sometimes at extraordinary cost) and large swaths of devastated neighborhoods were redeveloped, such as in Mt. Eden in the South Bronx by New Settlement Apartments and Harlem under the Bradhurst Plan. But clearly these efforts weren’t sufficient.

Nor would passing the tenant purchasing and community land acts solve the city’s housing crisis. But they would begin to alter the playing field, tilting public policy—and public perception—towards an approach that underscores housing as a home rather than a commodity from which to maximize profits. A very different kind of calculus than we hear coming out of much of government these days.

Doug Turetsky, a former City Limits reporter and editor, was most recently chief of staff and communications director at the New York City Independent Budget Office.

*Community Service Society is among City Limits’ funders.

Twins’ newcomers make a quick impression

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Ty France spent this offseason simplifying things in the batter’s box, getting back to his roots. He seems encouraged by the early results that he’s seeing.

Both France and Harrison Bader, whom the Twins signed to one year-deals earlier this month, hit home runs on Tuesday in the Twins’ 5-4 win over the New York Yankees at Hammond Stadium.

France is trying to rebound after a tough 2024 season at the plate in which his power and production were down. The veteran signed a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Twins and figures to factor heavily into their first base plans.

“I feel like my old self, just moving the ball all around the field,” France said. “When I’m hitting the ball the other way, usually I’m pretty dialed in. So far, camp has been good. I’m going to try to keep it rolling.”

The infielder got ahold of a Carlos Carrasco first-pitch sinker in the second inning and took it out to right field, tying the game at the time. The very next inning, Bader hit his first of the spring, as well, sending a slider out past the left-field fence.

Bader hit .273 with a .733 OPS in the first half of last season with the New York Mets but his numbers tailed off in the second half. He agreed to a one-year deal with a mutual option this month and will back up Byron Buxton in center and play some corner outfield, as well.

“Those guys have fallen in with the group very well. We’re going to run them out there, get them a bunch of at-bats,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The more at-bats you get, the more comfortable you get in spring, and I think both of them want the at-bats, too. So, we’ll give them to them. The early returns in these spring training games, they’re good.”

Ramírez fights for 10 years

Fewer than 10 percent of players who have ever slipped on a major league uniform have reached a decade of service time. That lofty number is in Erasmo Ramírez’s sights — it’s just taking a bit longer than the pitcher would liked.  He currently sits at nine years, three days of service time.

“It’s just moving slowly, too slow,” Ramirez said with a laugh. “I wish it moved a little faster, but it’s just life. I cannot change what I did in the past, but I can work on my present. Hopefully I have a better future.”

And he hopes that future is with the Twins. Ramírez signed a minor league deal with an invite to spring training after spending last year with the Rays. The 34-year-old pitched in 13 games last year, posting a 4.35 earned-run average.

He’s pitched for six different MLB teams across 13 seasons but is likely to begin the season at Triple-A St. Paul, waiting for an opportunity. The best thing for him to do now, he said, is wait for and earn his chance.

“I’ve never been a hard-thrower,” he said. “I depend on my command. My command is big. I know I can compete. As of right now, I just want to be able to compete and after that, when the speed shows up, good luck to the hitters.”

Briefly

The Twins will make the journey north to Lakeland on Tuesday to face the Detroit Tigers. Andrew Morris, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, is slated to start the game against reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. … When Matt Canterino took the mound on Tuesday in the seventh inning, it had been more than 900 days since his last appearance in regular season game (he pitched in spring training games last spring) due to injuries. It may not have been how he would’ve scripted it — he walked three batters — but he came away with a scoreless frame. … Outfielder DaShawn Kiersey Jr. delivered a walk-off hit on Tuesday to lift the Twins to their second victory of the spring.

Coca-Cola’s appeal to Palestinians fizzles as the Mideast war boosts demand for a local look-alike

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By ISABEL DEBRE

SALFIT, West Bank (AP) — Order a Coke to wash down some hummus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank these days and chances are the waiter will shake his head disapprovingly — or worse, mutter “shame, shame” in Arabic — before suggesting the popular local alternative: a can of Chat Cola.

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Chat Cola — its red tin and sweeping white script bearing remarkable resemblance to the iconic American soft drink’s logo — has seen its products explode in popularity across the occupied West Bank in the past year as Palestinian consumers, angry at America’s steadfast support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, protest with their pocketbooks.

“No one wants to be caught drinking Coke,” said Mad Asaad, 21, a worker at the bakery-cafe chain Croissant House in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which stopped selling Coke after the war erupted. “Everyone drinks Chat now. It’s sending a message.”

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered Israel’s devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian-led boycott movement against companies perceived as supportive of Israel gained momentum across the Middle East, where the usual American corporate targets like McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks saw sales slide last year.

Here in the West Bank, the boycott has shuttered two KFC branches in Ramallah. But the most noticeable expression of consumer outrage has been the sudden ubiquity of Chat Cola as shopkeepers relegate Coke cans to the bottom shelf — or pull them altogether.

“When people started to boycott, they became aware that Chat existed,” Fahed Arar, general manager of Chat Cola, told The Associated Press from the giant red-painted factory, nestled in the hilly West Bank town of Salfit. “I’m proud to have created a product that matches that of a global company.”

With the “buy local” movement burgeoning during the war, Chat Cola said its sales in the West Bank surged more than 40% last year, compared to 2023.

While the companies said they had no available statistics on their command of the local market due to the difficulties of data collection in wartime, anecdotal evidence suggests Chat Cola is clawing at some of Coca-Cola’s market share.

“Chat used to be a specialty product, but from what we’ve seen, it dominates the market,” said Abdulqader Azeez Hassan, 25, the owner of a supermarket in Salfit that boasts fridges full of the fizzy drinks.

But workers at Coca-Cola’s franchise in the West Bank, the National Beverage Company, are all Palestinian, and a boycott affects them, too, said its general manager, Imad Hindi.

He declined to elaborate on the business impact of the boycott, suggesting it can’t be untangled from the effects of the West Bank’s economic free-fall and intensified Israeli security controls that have multiplied shipping times and costs for Palestinian companies during the war.

The Coca-Cola Company did not respond to a request for comment.

Whether or not the movement brings lasting consequences, it does reflect an upsurge of political consciousness, said Salah Hussein, head of the Ramallah Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever seen a boycott to this extent,” Hussein said, noting how institutions like the prominent Birzeit University near Ramallah canceled their Coke orders. “After Oct. 7, everything changed. And after Trump, everything will continue to change.”

President Donald Trump’s call for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, which he rephrased last week as a recommendation, has further inflamed anti-American sentiment around the region.

With orders pouring in not only from Lebanon and Yemen but also the United States and Europe, the company has its sights set on the international market, said PR manager Ahmad Hammad.

Hired to help Chat Cola cash in on combustible emotions created by the war, Hammad has rebranded what began in 2019 as a niche mom-and-pop operation.

“We had to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said of the company’s new “Palestinian taste” logo and national flag-hued merchandise.

In its scramble to satisfy demand, Chat Cola is opening a second production site in neighboring Jordan. It rolled out new candy-colored flavors, like blueberry, strawberry and green apple.

At the steamy plant in Salfit, recent college graduates in lab coats said that they took pains to produce a carbonated beverage that could sell on its taste, not just a customer’s sense of solidarity with the Palestinians.

“Quality has been a problem with local Palestinian products before,” said Hanna al-Ahmad, 32, the head of quality control for Chat Cola, shouting to be heard over the whir of machines squirting caramel-colored elixir into scores of small cans that then whizzed down assembly lines. “If it’s not good quality, the boycott won’t stick.”

Chat Cola worked with chemists in France to produce the flavor, which is almost indistinguishable from Coke’s — just like its packaging. That’s the case for several flavors: Squint at Chat’s lemon-lime soda and you might mistake it for a can of Sprite.

In 2020, the Ramallah-based National Beverage Company sued Chat Cola for copyright infringement in Palestinian court, contending that Chat had imitated Coke’s designs for multiple drinks. The court ultimately sided with Chat Cola, determining there were enough subtle differences in the can designs that it didn’t violate copyright law.

In the Salfit warehouse, drivers loaded “family size” packages of soda into trucks bound not only for the West Bank but also for Tel Aviv, Haifa and other cities in Israel. Staffers said that Chat soda sales in Israel’s predominantly Arab cities jumped 25% last year. To broaden its appeal in Israel, Chat Cola secured kosher certification after a Jewish rabbi’s thorough inspection of the facility.

Still, critics of the Palestinians-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, say that its main objective — to isolate Israel economically for its occupation of Palestinian lands — only exacerbates the conflict.

“BDS and similar actions drive communities apart, they don’t help to bring people together,” said Vlad Khaykin, the executive vice president of social impact and partnerships in North America for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization. “The kind of rhetoric being embraced by the BDS movement to justify the boycott of Israel is really quite dangerous.”

While Chat Cola goes out of its way to avoid buying from Israel — sourcing ingredients and materials from France, Italy and Kuwait — it can’t avoid the circumstances of Israeli occupation, in which Israel dominates the Palestinian economy, controls borders, imports and more.

Deliveries of raw materials to Chat Cola’s West Bank factory get hit with a 35% import tax — half of which Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians. The general manager, Arar, said his company’s success depends far more on Israeli bureaucratic goodwill than nationalist fervor.

For nearly a month last fall, Israeli authorities detained Chat’s aluminum shipments from Jordan at the Allenby Bridge Crossing, forcing part of the factory to shut down and costing the company tens of thousands of dollars.

Among the local buyers left in the lurch was Croissant House in Ramallah, where, on a recent afternoon, at least one thirsty customer, confronting a nearly empty refrigerator, slipped to the supermarket next-door for a can of Coke.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Asaad, the worker. “We want to be self-sufficient. But we’re not.”