With four losses in their last five games and a 4-6 record that has them two games back of the rest of the NFC North, the focus of the rest of the 2025 season for the Minnesota Vikings is clear.
J.J. McCarthy, health-permitting, with have 12 starts on his resume when the season is over, barring a surprising run at a playoff berth. While that still won't truly be enough to draw big conclusions about his career track, he needs to show signs of progress.
If he doesn't, the Vikings will be left to evaluate what to do at the most important position on the field. The idea of adding legitimate competition for McCarthy during the offseason will easily percolate, and there will surely be some ideas about who could outright replace him.
That said, good quarterbacks don't easily become available in free agency. The top quarterback in the 2026 free agent class is unlikely to even hit the open market. It's also fair to say the offseason trade market for quarterbacks won't be robust, with the top potential option there (Kyler Murray) not so great.
To sum it all up, if it wasn't already obvious, the Vikings really need McCarthy to figure it out. How the quarterback depth chart takes shape behind him in 2026 will then be rendered moot.
Mike Florio brings uninspiring J.J. McCarthy insurance option to light
On "PFT Live" last week, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk brought up the idea that the Vikings should add competition for McCarthy during the offseason in an effort to push him to his ceiling. That's not an outrageous thought, almost regardless of how the rest of this season goes.
The follow-up question to that idea is easy.
Who could be brought in to be that competition, if it comes to that?
Florio, citing "chatter in some circles", has brought a potential McCarthy insurance option to light.
"There’s already chatter in some circles that, in the 2026 offseason, the Vikings will explore trading for 49ers quarterback Mac Jones."
Florio noted how the Vikings recently plucked an apple from the Kyle Shanahan quarterback tree, signing Sam Darnold in 2024 after he spent the 2023 season in San Francisco as Brock Purdy's backup.
With Purdy missing significant time due to a turf toe injury, Jones has started eight games for the 49ers this season and played fairly well (69.6 percent completion, 97.4 passer rating). He was also signed to a two-year deal last offseason, which makes him a tradeable asset the 49ers could cash in for a draft pick come March.
Whatever the Vikings do, or don't do, regarding a quarterback addition during the offseason will be driven by how McCarthy finishes the season. Trading for Jones would be a clear indication of continued struggles and lost faith. The idea of a legitimate competition for the starting job in 2026 would also be brought all the way to fruition.
The fact that Jones stands out as the top insurance against McCarthy failing to take notable steps over the rest of the season, and he absolutely does, says it all. It would also mean going back to the short-term retread well the Purple have had to go to far too often over the years.
So let's hope McCarthy takes the rest of the season to refine his game and solidify himself as the Vikings' starting quarterback in 2026 (and beyond). If he doesn't, other viable outcomes (however short-term they might be) will come into play, and none are exciting.