J.J. McCarthy quarterback Minnesota Vikings
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 04: J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings looks on during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium on January 04, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
Common logic dictated that JJ McCarthy probably lost his starting job the moment the Minnesota Vikings signed Kyler Murray to a one-year contract. Meanwhile, the team’s latest QB move may have just started the clock on McCarthy’s exit from Minneapolis.
The Vikings on Thursday, March 19 brought back quarterback Carson Wentz, who the team acquired late last summer to play behind McCarthy and ended up starting five games before a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery cut his season short.
Some NFL analysts speculated that Minnesota extended McCarthy’s absence, initially due to a high-ankle sprain he suffered in Week 2, because Wentz was playing better and more consistently than was McCarthy. The Vikings sat their second-year QB for six weeks (five games and the bye week) before Wentz’s shoulder knocked him out.
Judd Zulgad of SKOR North wrote Thursday that the team’s decision to bring Wentz back likely signals that McCarthy is headed for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart just one year after the team cleared the decks to elevate him into the starting role, even despite missing his entire rookie campaign due to injury.
“The Vikings have been attempting to tell everyone that Murray would compete for the job, and up to this point the assumption was that battle would be with J.J. McCarthy,” Zulgad wrote. “That would leave Wentz as the No. 3 quarterback, and it’s difficult to believe he signed on March 19 to accept a role as the backup to the backup. It’s more likely that Murray will open training camp as the starter with Wentz behind him.”
JJ McCarthy Has Just 10 Starts for Vikings in NFL
J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
GettyMinnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy.
If McCarthy does, in fact, drop to No. 3 on the depth chart, it is not unreasonable to think Minnesota might shop him on the trade market.
It would be even less surprising if McCarthy and his camp pushed for a move out of Minneapolis to somewhere he can at least compete for starting reps as he enters his third professional season at the age of just 23 years old.
McCarthy went 6-4 as the Vikings’ starter last season, completing 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 TDs and 12 INTs. He also rushed the football for 181 yards and four scores.
JJ McCarthy Now Trade Candidate After Vikings Sign Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz
GettyQuarterback JJ McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings.
Potential trade suitors for McCarthy might include the Arizona Cardinals, who inked Gardner Minshew to a one-year deal worth just over $8 million after releasing Murray despite owing him $36.8 million in 2026.
Minshew is presumably in the desert to serve as a placeholder QB for one year before Arizona looks to add a franchise rookie QB in a deep 2027 class, likely near the top of the draft order in Round 1.
Another team that might have interest in McCarthy is the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland currently has Sheduer Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson on the roster for new head coach Todd Monken.
The team has nearly finished construction on an entirely new offensive line and is likely to select a No. 1 wide receiver in the opening round of next month’s draft, so an inexpensive swing on a new signal-caller like McCarthy with unknowns and upside could make some sense.