Heading into the 2025 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings will have a new era beginning under second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
After taking McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, it was obvious that he would be the quarterback of the future. It's a bit surprising that the future is coming now after the young signal caller missed all of his rookie season due to a knee injury, but the team is clearly comfortable with him.
There are a lot of questions surrounding McCarthy this season, but he will have every opportunity to answer them.
Earlier in the offseason, the Vikings opted to pass on options like Aaron Rodgers in favor of McCarthy. However, there has been continued buzz about the team potentially pursuing a backup upgrade over Sam Howell, who they traded for during the draft.
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With that being said, Kirk Cousins is still floating around as a potential target for Minnesota.
Max Dible of Heavy Sports believes that Cousins is the best possible candidate to be McCarthy's backup. He explained why in a recent column.
"Cousins will turn 37 years old in August and isn't a longterm threat to McCarthy's job security, though he would likely serve as a far more reliable insurance policy to the 22-year-old starter than Howell ever could," Dible wrote.
"All of that renders Cousins as the best possible candidate - of those currently on the market - to serve as QB2 behind McCarthy, which led to multiple ESPN reporters authoring trade pitches reuniting Cousins with the Vikings earlier this month."
Of course, Cousins is very familiar with the Vikings' system. He played for the team from the 2018 season through the 2023 campaign.
Last season, the 36-year-old quarterback played the majority of the year as the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback. By the end of the season, however, he had been replaced by rookie signal caller Michael Penix Jr.
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He played in 14 games with the Falcons, completing 66.9 percent of his pass attempts for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.
While the turnover numbers are concerning, Cousins would not be acquired to be the starter in Minnesota. That role would still belong to McCarthy.
Instead, Cousins would be brought in to be a quality backup in case he's needed and he would also be able to serve as a veteran mentor to McCarthy. Both of those roles would be equally as valuable for the Vikings and it's an option worth considering.
For more Minnesota Vikings and NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM.