Coaches often talk about a two-stage development process for quarterbacks. The first stage is learning the particulars of their team’s scheme: play names, cadences, protection plans and route concepts. The second, and more advanced, stage is learning how to use those particulars to attack defenses. Kirk Cousins used to say how much a second year in the same scheme helped him play with more clarity and precision; while McCarthy is in his second year in the Vikings offense, his two injuries and relative youth have left him woefully short on game snaps from which to learn. It’s why, before the season, Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, himself a veteran of 17 NFL seasons, compared McCarthy’s development to “a child learning to walk.
“You know they’re going to, but it’s a process they have to go through to get there,” McCown said. “That’s where we are. We’re going to maintain a growth mindset with him, but we’re going to coach him, just like you do with a child. You do the things, expecting them to eventually walk, and we’re coaching him in a manner that expects him playing at a high level. And so we’ll see when that happens.”
Quarterback Daniel Jones has led the Colts to a 5-1 record and the top of the AFC standings. (AJ Mast/The Associated Press)
The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement does incentivize quicker conclusions on quarterbacks. First-round picks get four-year deals, with a team option for a fifth year. By the end of the 2027 season, the Vikings will have to decide whether McCarthy is worth a lucrative second contract.
The affordability of rookie QB contracts also means teams gear up to do exactly what the Vikings did this season: use the cost savings at quarterback to build a veteran roster full of players they might not be able to afford once they’re paying more for a quarterback. The play of second-year quarterbacks like the New England Patriots’ Drake Maye (the No. 3 pick whom the Vikings prized in last year’s draft) and the Denver Broncos’ Bo Nix (who went two spots after McCarthy) also shows how quickly a successful young QB can provide a boost to a franchise.
The Vikings want a clearer sense of McCarthy’s trajectory as soon as they can get it, both to maximize what they can accomplish on his rookie deal and ascertain whether they should give him a second contract. But Nix and Maye made their 23rd and 18th regular-season starts Sunday, respectively; McCarthy is still looking for his third.
As the Vikings proved last year, and early success in Tampa, Indianapolis and Seattle has shown this year, there’s a shrewd investment to be made in a former top pick aiming for a career reboot. As Mayfield, Darnold, Jones and Goff have proved, though, the maturation of a talented QB can take a little longer than expected.