Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
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(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikingsare built to win right now. After winning 14 games in 2024, the team took a significant step back in 2025, winning only nine games, with play at QB a major factor in the record.
As a result, finding a QB this offseason who can challenge J.J. McCarthy for the starting job appears to be the route that Minnesota might be taking. What signal-caller fits that role remains to be seen. However, the Vikings arebeing warned about Aaron Rodgers, who was linked to Minnesota last offseason.
On the Feb. 25 edition of “Get Up,” ESPN NFL analyst Domonique Foxworth shared a warning to the Vikings explaining why Rodgers, who is a year old, might not be the right fit for them.
“I think that Aaron Rodgers probably appeared happy with the way things went last year with the Steelers,” Foxworth said. “Assuming that it’ll be better with the Vikings, I don’t know if that is necessarily true. I agree that the Vikings have a ton of talent on offense, and it might be enticing to think that Aaron Rodgers could rekindle the way that he used to play. But we all watched him play last year, and it’s no insult to his entire career, but he was hesitant to get hit and quick to get rid of the ball.
“With the Vikings, it’s going to be a high-pressure situation. I’m not sure that Aaron Rodgers is interested in returning to that cauldron he was in with the Jets, where everyone’s looking at him, blaming him, and assessing everything that happened after every game and putting it at his feet.”
Vikings Get Another Blunt Take on Aaron Rodgers Speculation
Moreover, during the same segment, ESPN NFL analyst Damien Woody noted that the Vikings might be better off looking at other QB options rather than turning to a 42-year-old Rodgers.
“We’re sitting herehaving a discussion about a 42-year-old quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. That’s true, okay? How much difference can Aaron Rodgers make, regardless of whether it’s the Minnesota Vikings or the Pittsburgh Steelersat this age right now?I just don’t know ifhe’s going to have thattype of impactfor either ballclub.
“We’ve talked about other potential people, primarily Kyler Murray. Does Kyler Murray make more sense for the Minnesota Vikings, considering he’s considerably younger, more talented, and all those types of things?”
J.J. McCarthy Receives Concerning Take
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said on Feb. 24 that he still thinks of McCarthy the same way but mentioned that the circumstances around him have changed.
“It’s just the timeline is in a different place for all of us than it was at that point,” O’Connell said (h/tKevin Seifert of ESPN). “And I have a responsibility — we have a responsibility collectively as we put together this team — to make sure that we use the data that we have at this time and the experiences we have, the feelings that we’ve had at different times as an organization.
Moreover, former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber took this quote from O’Connell and said he doesn’t think Minnesota will pursue a QB to serve as a reliable backup behind McCarthy.
“This quote makes me think the Vikings will definitely target a start-now veteran and let J.J. marinate for another year,“Leber wrote on Feb. 24 on X.