It’s a hard time to be a Minnesota Vikings fan. The team cratered after a 14-win season, and the 2025 campaign was known more for the “Nine” meme than anything that happened on the field. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s spending spree from last season went as well as a used car dealer promising rust-free lemons from the South. It’s gotten so bad that Vikings fans don’t have the energy to fight back by getting rage baited by Green Bay Packers fans.
The depression has dragged into the offseason. The Vikings have informed Aaron Jones, Javon Hargrave, and Jonathan Allen of their release. Jonathan Greenard could get traded, and T.J. Hockenson, Ryan Kelly, and others could be on their way out the door.
It’s even harder to get excited about the direction the Vikings are heading. It’s looking like 2026 will be more about reaching nine wins to save jobs than about making the first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years. But just in case all is lost, there may have been an olive branch to make the Vikings fun again, and his name is Kyler Murray.
The Arizona Cardinals have informed Kyler Murray that they will release him, ending a stretch of seven seasons for the first-overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. His time in Arizona was filled with highs and lows, and a torn ACL that seems to have eliminated his willingness to scramble downfield. But he’d also be a little bit of excitement for a fan base that is begging for it right now.
Think back to the start of last season. There was only a chill in the fall air, fans were proudly wearing their purple clothing, and the Vikings were coming off a 14-win season. There was a rare sense of optimism and an even rarer feeling that everyone was on the same page after years of debating Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold.
Those feelings quickly went out the window when the season started. People were playing J.T. O’Sullivan’s videos more than “Skol Vikings.” Content creators did their best to manifest a Justin Jefferson trade. Tension was the order of the day, and McCarthy looked more like an actor in an Under Armour commercial than an NFL quarterback.
Perhaps the worst part of all this is what happened in the build-up to last season. The Vikings blew off the backup quarterback situation, relying on Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer as McCarthy’s backups. Then McCarthy got hurt and thrust both of them into action, but it wasn’t the only thing that went wrong.
The veterans whom they signed during last year’s spending spree aged like milk. Jones and Kelly suffered injuries. Will Fries turned out to be more like Alex Boone than Steve Hutchinson. For whatever reason, Kevin O’Connell rode his vertical offense straight to the grave, and the Vikings were the laughingstock of the NFL.
Looking ahead to 2026, the goal is to be “super competitive” and outperform the Packers, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns. But that may be a tricky situation given their salary cap situation. The Vikings are $46.6 million over the cap, and whispers about a quiet free-agency period suggest the main goal is to reset the books and build through a weak draft class, which doesn’t sound like a recipe for success.
So if the Vikings are going to tear it down as much as a teardown can be with this franchise, why not have some fun with it?
Kyler Murray would be that player. There’s no guarantee that he’s a fit with O’Connell, who prefers his quarterbacks to play on schedule and deliver the football on time. But it also could be fun to see Murray link up with Justin Jefferson after helping DeAndre Hopkins catch 115 passes for 1,407 yards and six touchdowns in his first season with Arizona in 2020.
The thought that Murray also doesn’t excel at throwing the ball deep is another myth. When Murray led the Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021, he was the highest-graded passer in the league, posting a 99.2 grade on 76 attempts of 20 yards or more, according to Pro Football Focus.
There are some concerns about Murray in the locker room, but those also seem to be overblown. Remember that some Vikings fans thought signing Darnold doomed the 2024 season, but he provided enough splash plays to turn them into legitimate contenders. Murray has that ability with his arm and his legs and offers more upside than some of the options they are considering.
The Vikings have already seen what Kirk Cousins offers. Derek Carr hasn’t been willing to throw it deep or take a hit since 2021. Geno Smith led the NFL in sacks taken and interceptions last year. And whatever strange Aaron Rodgers fantasy some Vikings fans have will go sideways when he goes too far into the dark corners of the internet to visit his AI wife.
The one outcome you could suggest would be more fun is if McCarthy straightens things out in his second year as a starter. But that feels like an uphill climb, knowing he needs to correct his footwork, improve his accuracy, and show a huge leap in maturity for that to happen. Even then, you could argue that McCarthy’s path to success could be similar to Murray’s, trying to find a way to get more splash plays while minimizing the disastrous ones.
For a fanbase that has been punched in the gut for the past year, Kyler Murray may be the way to go. But it may just be more of the mundane, finding a safer option in the quest to go 9-8.