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The Minnesota Vikings saw Sam Darnold leave last offseason to join the Seattle Seahawks and eventually win Super Bowl LX. After the decision to let Darnold walk in favor of keeping J.J. McCarthy backfired, the Vikings face pressure to fix their mistake.
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/t Kevin 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.
Minnesota Ready to ‘Explore’ All Opportunities
Meanwhile, executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski stated that the Vikings are looking at all options. As a result, it doesn’t appear that Minnesota is just settling on a backup and rolling with McCarthy as their starter. At the very least, they probably want the Michigan Wolverines product to win the starting job.
“What we do know is we need a level of baseline quarterback play for us to be effective,“ Brzezinski said (h/t Kevin Seifert of ESPN). “A lot of this has been J.J. in unfortunate [situations] with some of the injuries and things that he’s dealt with, but we’re going to explore every opportunity, and I don’t think there’s anything specifically we’re looking for.
“We can’t manufacture anything that’s not there. So No. 1, what are the options? Is it reciprocal? Is it financially doable? All those things. There’s just a lot of factors that go into it.”
Kyler Murray Speculation Take From Vikings Insider
One of the names in the speculation mill is Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray. On the Feb. 16 edition of The Alec Lewis Show, Vikings beat reporter for The Athletic, Alec Lewis, shared his take on the speculation. He noted that any move to Minnesota could depend on what Murray is looking for financially.
“Some of [the contract talk] can become moot if Kyler Murray is eventually cut,“ Lewis said. “If the Arizona Cardinals can’t find a trade partner and get to a point where it’s like they just have to make this move right now. If they did that, they could make it a post-June cut. It would be a massive dead cap hit that they are undertaking, but that would then leave Kyler Murray on the market, and it becomes a choice for him.
“Does he want a long-term deal with financial security that a place like [the New York Jets], which has $70 million in cap space, could be willing to provide? Or would he be willing to take the Daniel Jones-type option, where you’re taking a one-year, rental prove-it deal in a really good situation that could set you up for the future?”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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