The Minnesota Vikings made a free agency move on Thursday that many saw coming from a mile away.
The franchise signed two Pro Bowl quarterback Kyler Murray to help improve their questionable quarterback situation.
"Former (Arizona) Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is signing a one-year deal with the Vikings," ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on X/Twitter. "Murray now will become part of a QB room that includes former No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy. With Murray already owed $36.8 million from Arizona, his one-year contract with the Vikings will be for the veteran league minimum."
Unsurprisingly, former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy was named a loser of the Vikings’ notable free agency move.
“J.J. McCarthy is the obvious loser in the short term,” USA Today’s Tyler Dragon wrote. “The acquisition of Murray likely means a demotion of McCarthy for this season.”
“The Vikings will probably have an open competition between Murray and McCarthy, but Murray is the better quarterback at this point in his career.”
“McCarthy finished last season with the worst passer rating (72.6) by a quarterback with 10 or more starts. In McCarthy’s 10 career starts, he’s thrown more interceptions (12) than touchdown passes (11).”
“In comparison, Murray’s averaged 235 passing yards per game, registered a career 92.2 passer rating and has thrown at least 20 touchdown passes in every season he’s started at least 14 games. “
The Vikings’ decision to sign Murray was likely the last thing McCarthy wanted to occur this offseason. The Michigan product is coming off a less-than-ideal rookie campaign with the Vikings (he was drafted by Minnesota in 2024 but was unable to play immediately due to an injury).
With Murray in the fold, McCarthy could find himself starting the 2026-27 season as QB No. 2 if he doesn’t play his cards right during training camp.
Needless to say, McCarthy didn’t receive positive news on Thursday.
More NFL: Former Eagles Super Bowl-winning DE retires before age 30