One of the more intriguing teams entering the offseason is the Minnesota Vikings, who made the playoffs in 2024 after going 14–3 in the regular season with Sam Darnold at quarterback. However, after allowing Darnold to depart and turning to first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings missed the postseason this past year.
In the process, they watched Darnold go on to win a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, raising questions about Minnesota's long-term direction at quarterback. After a rocky season from McCarthy, the big question now becomes: Do the Vikings stick with their young signal-caller, or bring in veteran competition?
For now, McCarthy's grip on the starting job may not be as secure as once believed. According to ESPN insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, two veteran quarterbacks - Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals and Geno Smith of the Las Vegas Raiders - have been heavily linked to Minnesota as potential options.
"The odd quarterback landscape of this offseason makes it difficult to predict where the Vikings land, but if and when someone such as Geno Smith or Kyler Murray gets cut, I could see Minnesota pursuing that kind of passer on a low-cost, one-year prove-it deal," the ESPN report stated.
As previously reported in recent weeks, former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been mentioned as a possible option, along with Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins, whose future in Miami appears uncertain.
Regardless of who the Vikings ultimately bring in, J.J. McCarthy understands this will be a pivotal offseason - something head coach Kevin O’Connell acknowledged this week.
"Yeah, I think the starting point, outside of some bumps and bruises, is that he's going to have a healthy offseason," O'Connell said. "So he knows it's a big offseason for him, but what I've really enjoyed about our conversations early on is that he's hungry. He's out in California right now working with John Beck and some of the guys he worked with pre-draft. … We want him to be in a competitive situation because of some of that time lost."
McCarthy missed his entire 2024 rookie season after suffering a preseason injury, then appeared in 10 games last year while battling multiple injuries throughout the season.
He completed 57.4% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions for the Minnesota Vikings. That said, the Vikings went 6–4 in his starts.
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