J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
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Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy has plenty of bulletin board material to serve as motivation this offseason to prepare him for the 2026 NFL season. It was a rollercoaster 2025 campaign for McCarthy, but he didn’t do enough to convince that he’s the team’s undisputed QB1.
As a result, since the start of the offseason, the Vikings have been in the speculation mill for almost every QB that could be available, whether it’s free agency, trade, or potential players who can become free agents if their current team decides to cut them.
Nonetheless, McCarthy doesn’t look to be going anywhere, but in 2026, it does seem he will need to win the starting QB job. Because of this potential scenario, ESPN’s Freddie Coleman gave the Vikings signal-caller a clear message as it looks like it will be a prove-it season.
“If you’re J.J. McCarthy, and I’m sure he knows this, but I’m going to say it anyway, do not give them a reason to look for a quarterback in the 2027 draft, because that Vikings organization, Kevin O’Connell, they’ll do that,“ Coleman said on the Feb. 26 edition of “Freddy & Harry.“ They may not look at the free agent crop of quarterbacks and say, ‘We’re not going to build around them.‘ J.J. McCarthy, I like the way that he is a tough guy. He is not going to retreat from a challenge.
“He’s not going to retreat from competition, but you still have to step up and be counted or get run over by the National Football League. If he’s run over again in 2026, he will have given the Minnesota Vikings a reason to look for a quarterback in the 2027 draft, period. End of story, whether he likes it or not.”
Vikings Are Looking to Win Now
Moreover, with the Vikings looking to win now and having a team capable of doing so, Minnesota cannot afford to waste another season hoping the young QB figures it out.
“[The Vikings] are in the business of something that is too important, with the personnel you have to see if he’s going to work out in Year 3 as a starting quarterback,“ Coleman added. “That’s why I think it’s not a make‑or‑break year, but it’s a prove‑it year.“
J.J. McCarthy Gets Concerning Offseason 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.