Now that he has a contract extension in his possession — a four-year deal that could be worth up to $113 million — star left tackle Christian Darrisaw is looking to take the next step in his career.

What does that look like for him?

Though he’d obviously like to continue his ascension among the best players at his position, Darrisaw is also trying to push himself to grow in an area outside of his comfort zone.

“I feel like the next step for me is my leadership role for this team,” Darrisaw said. “Just being a better leader and being more vocal for all my guys.”

That doesn’t come naturally for Darrisaw. He’s a reserved person at his core and has long preferred to let his play do the talking.

That said, head coach Kevin O’Connell has slowly started to see Darrisaw come out of his shell as of late, and he’s excited to see even more of that moving forward.

“The progression and upside of a player like Christian has been on full display with his impact on the game,” O’Connell said. “There’s so much room for him to grow in multiple facets of the game, and he’s more excited about that than anybody.”

Asked about Darrisaw taking on a bigger leadership role, star right tackle Brian O’Neill mentioned how Darrisaw is locker mates with rookie left tackle Walter Rouse at TCO Performance Center. That should give Darrisaw an opportunity to take Rouse under his wing with relative ease.

“He’s going to do a great job with that,” O’Neill said, while adding that Rouse is actually sandwiched in between he and Darrisaw. “We were joking around with (Rouse) this morning, like, ‘You nervous?’ ”

The mentorship from Darrisaw will also extend to practice on a daily basis. Whether he’s helping Rouse learn some of the fundamentals in the trenches, or he’s letting rookie edge rusher Dallas Turner pick his brain about potential counters moves, Darrisaw plans on making himself available

“Just let the guys know right from wrong,” Darrisaw said. “Somebody might take a bad step or something, or they might mess up on a play, I can go up to that guy and be like, ‘Yo. This is how we do it.’ ”

The steady growth of Darrisaw has been on display since the Vikings selected him with the No. 23 pick in the 2021 draft. He quickly established himself a force to be reckoned with up front, and now he’s in position to finish his career with the Vikings.

As for the contract extension that made that possible, Darrisaw credited the front office for the Vikings, as well as his agent Drew Rosenhaus, emphasizing that getting a deal done right before the start of training camp will allow him to focus on the task at hand.

“I can just play football now,” Darrisaw said. “I ain’t got to worry about nothing. Everything is taken care of. I can just go out there and do my job.”

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