When we look back at the 2025 season, we’ll probably forget that the Minnesota Vikings had Sam Howell in camp. Amidst a seismic quarterback shuffle, the Vikings traded for Howell to back up J.J. McCarthy in late April.
Sam Darnold threw for 35 touchdowns and 4,319 yards, but the Vikings let him sign with the Seattle Seahawks. They had developed Daniel Jones behind Darnold, and he looked like the perfect backup for McCarthy. However, Jones wanted to compete for a starting spot and signed with the Indianapolis Colts. Minnesota also spurred Aaron Rodgers when he showed interest.
The Vikings likely signed Howell because Kevin O’Connell prefers quarterbacks with starting experience, even if they looked mediocre under center — or like busts. Howell had 17 starts with the Washington Commanders in 2023, throwing for 21 touchdowns and 3,946 yards, but he also had 21 interceptions. The Commanders traded him to Seattle in the offseason, and he only threw 14 passes in two games with the Seahawks.
Minnesota traded Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles and signed Carson Wentz in late August. ESPN reported the moves simultaneously, given that the Vikings made them in tandem. After Howell spent all of training camp with them, they decided Wentz was better equipped to start if McCarthy suffered an injury.
“Throughout the spring and summer and training camp, I thought Sam improved. He did a lot of really nice things,” O’Connell said after acquiring Wentz. “Ultimately, it’s more than just looking at this as one particular move, but where we ended up with our quarterback room. The ultimate goal was to feel how we feel now.”
O’Connell was ostensibly saying he felt more secure with a veteran in the quarterback room. The Vikings also had Brett Rypien, 29, in camp but cut him and rostered undrafted rookie Max Brosmer.
Minnesota likely didn’t want to enter the season with Howell, 25, and Brosmer, 24, backing up McCarthy, 22. Therefore, adding Carson Wentz, 32, a former franchise quarterback with nearly 100 games of NFL experience, made sense.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in what we can do here at that position, to take a guy with such high capacity mentally, and then the experience that he does have,” explained O’Connell.
“We’ve got some experience with bringing in some quarterbacks that had previous experiences elsewhere and finding a way to maximize in a short amount of time, a comfort level in the system. And then ultimately doing the things we need to do if that player were to play significant snaps.”
Cousins had a 59-59-2 career record when O’Connell inherited him and his reputation for putting up numbers but failing to win big games. Coming off an 8-8 season in 2021, Cousins led the Vikings to 13 wins in O’Connell’s first season, including a career-high eight game-winning drives.
However, he threw short of the sticks on the final play of Minnesota’s playoff loss, and the Vikings moved on after he suffered an Achilles tear the following season.
2023 was illustrative of O’Connell’s limitations as a quarterback whisperer. Joshua Dobbs became an overnight sensation after winning in Atlanta but fell back to earth a month later. Nick Mullens threw for over 1,500 yards in three seasons with the Vikings, but also had eight touchdowns and nine picks. Jaren Hall made two starts for Minnesota but is no longer in the league.
A year later, Sam Darnold became proof of concept for O’Connell. Most people considered Darnold a bust after the New York Jets drafted him third overall in 2018. However, O’Connell unlocked the quarterback draft pundits projected him to be, and he’s looked like a franchise QB in Seattle.
O’Connell was never going to turn Carson Wentz into Darnold. Injuries robbed Wentz of the opportunity to be a franchise quarterback in Philadelphia. At this point, he’s a journeyman backup who’s started for six teams in the past six years.
“I am getting older,” Wentz admitted after leading the Vikings on a game-winning drive in London. “I’m not trying to run around. I’m not trying to make plays. It happens when the pocket collapses or the secondary has guys covered, and you’re trying to make plays.”
Still, he’s held things together under center while McCarthy recovers from a high ankle sprain. Wentz had a 129.8 passer rating in Minnesota’s 48-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He had two picks in Dublin, but threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wentz’s 102.1 passer rating and game-winning drive at Tottenham Stadium confirmed he could win an island game everyone is watching.
“I got some elite wide receivers and tight ends out there,” said Wentz. “I want to get them the ball. Not do it myself.”
At this stage in his career, Wentz is more Cousins than Darnold. Still, Wentz is a cut above players like Dobbs, Mullens, and Hall. Cousins would be a great backup if he were on a more affordable contract and occasionally pushed the ball downfield. His value was always setting a floor. The problem is he costs too much for a second-tier starter who played worse in primetime.
Wentz feels like Cousins if he were more willing to throw downfield and on a more affordable contract. That makes him an ideal backup, given Minnesota’s quarterback situation. They needed a reliable quarterback to step in when McCarthy struggled and then got hurt. The Vikings also needed a stopgap between McCarthy and Brosmer, another developing quarterback.
It’s unlikely that Carson Wentz reclaims his franchise quarterback form in Minnesota. However, he doesn’t have to do that to offer value to the team. Wentz’s role is more about the floor than the ceiling, and he gives the Vikings a sturdy foundation in the quarterback room.