{"id":43960,"date":"2025-05-12T10:55:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T10:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/43960\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T10:55:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T10:55:20","slug":"vikings-decline-to-close-the-door-on-aaron-rodgers-but-they-wont-promise-him-a-starting-job-either","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/43960\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings decline to close the door on Aaron Rodgers, but they won\u2019t promise him a starting job, either"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finally, there\u2019s some subtext about what transpired between free-agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers<\/a> and the Minnesota Vikings. And it lends an outline to what\u2019s unfolding right now \u2014 from Rodgers remaining in a holding pattern to the Pittsburgh Steelers staying patient<\/a> in their pursuit of his services.<\/p>\n

Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah met with the media Wednesday, offering the most expansive public view to date about what has transpired between the team and Rodgers over the past few weeks. It was a session that was hopeful in the best-laid plans for 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy<\/a>, noncommittal about definitively eliminating Rodgers from the future, and also clear when you analyze what\u2019s going on between the lines. Which is something like this: As much as the Vikings are intrigued about adding Rodgers\u2019 talent and experience to the fold, they won\u2019t do it to the detriment of their plan for McCarthy being the team\u2019s 2025 starter. And unless something changes that equation \u2014 like a McCarthy injury or some kind of catastrophic struggles in the coming months \u2014 the Vikings and Rodgers will be heading in different directions.<\/p>\n

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Adofo-Mensah didn\u2019t put it into those precise terms, of course. As most NFL general managers do, he leaned into language that kept as many avenues as possible open. But the message was clear: Minnesota wants to go through the paces this offseason to move forward with McCarthy. And that\u2019s just something that can\u2019t be done with Rodgers on the roster \u2026 especially given the reality that he wants to be a starter if he plays in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, given all our scenario planning, we\u2019re happy with our room,\u201d Adofo-Mensah told reporters Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me to sit here and say that, you know, anything is 100 percent forever \u2014 that\u2019s just not the job, right? We\u2019re responding to scenarios and different information as it comes. Obviously things can change but right now we\u2019re really happy with our room and we\u2019re going to look to upgrade it in different ways. But for now, we\u2019re really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"London,<\/p>\n

Aaron Rodgers is still keeping the NFL world waiting on his free agency decision. (Photo by Mario Hommes\/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(DeFodi Images via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In one sense, it feels like a hedge by the Vikings. Those who want some definitive clarity expect a declaration along the lines of “Aaron Rodgers won\u2019t be playing for Minnesota in 2025.” But in another sense, this is Adofo-Mensah doing two things: First, being respectful to Rodgers without saying the Vikings aren\u2019t prepared to offer him a starting job; and second, banking some wiggle room to turn toward Rodgers if any number of worst-case scenarios unfold in the coming months.<\/p>\n

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Among those scenarios: Perhaps McCarthy suffers a setback physically in the offseason program as he returns from two knee surgeries. Or maybe he struggles unexpectedly in the coming months, forcing the Vikings to contemplate embracing an extended timeline before elevating him as the team\u2019s starter. Neither is expected, of course. But the NFL is a landscape where failing to plan for every scenario can turn into an unexpected plan for your own demise. Adofo-Mensah is trying to avoid that while also carefully weighing how to fill out the remainder of Minnesota\u2019s quarterback room.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s at least some level of transparency, too. And that\u2019s this: The Vikings want McCarthy to be their starter in 2025. But they\u2019re not giving him the job by default after Sam Darnold\u2019s departure to the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> and Daniel Jones signing with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we pooled the resources we did to draft J.J. and you go through that long process and all those things, I can stand up here and say that\u2019s the outcome we want and that\u2019s the outcome we\u2019re headed towards,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cAt every checkpoint, whether it had been the draft process or practice until the injury or really the offseason now, he\u2019s met the bar. He\u2019s exceeded our expectations at every point.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t have the ability to tell you what the future is. But I can tell you what I expect to be the outcome this offseason from the competition. But it\u2019s also our job to set up a quarterback room that\u2019s going to be able to meet, have great ideas and prepare whoever it is to play \u2014 but also provide insurance in case someone needs to come in for a couple games. That\u2019s our job as a personnel department, to look at all the options out there and make sure we\u2019re setting ourselves up for the best case we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a wordy way of saying that Minnesota\u2019s intent is for McCarthy to be the team\u2019s starter, with a supporting quarterback room that provides a sold veteran backup at the No. 2 spot, and Brett Rypien<\/a> at No. 3 to fill out the depth chart. If Rodgers were willing to be a supportive backup \u2014 or more appropriately, if it made sense for him to be an understudy \u2014 he\u2019d be in the picture. He doesn\u2019t want to be \u2026 nor does it make sense for him to be \u2026 so he won\u2019t be. For now. And that\u2019s ultimately what unfolded during his conversations with Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to a place [with Rodgers] where we just said, everybody was transparent but right now we feel good about where we\u2019re going,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cThat\u2019s really how it ended. You know, it\u2019s ultimately up to him [if he wants to sign with another team]. It\u2019s hard to talk about a player who\u2019s not under contract for our team and obviously isn\u2019t a member of this team. It\u2019s ultimately up to him what he decides to do with his future. That\u2019s kind of where we left it. I know Kevin and him have a great relationship still. They\u2019ll still have a relationship. They\u2019ll keep talking, but right now I\u2019m focused on the two players that are in the room right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What that means for Rodgers is that he\u2019s obliged to sit, wait and watch from afar. At least as long as Minnesota hasn\u2019t signed another veteran quarterback into the backup spot behind McCarthy<\/a> \u2014 which it eventually intends to do once that free agency addition doesn\u2019t impact the team\u2019s future compensatory pick equation. That deadline traditionally comes in May. Maybe that player will be Rodgers, once he doesn\u2019t count against a future comp pick for the franchise. Maybe it will be one of several veterans who are still on the market and can provide the ability to support McCarthy and start some games in a pinch.<\/p>\n

What is clear at this moment is that any signing is not meant to disrupt the Vikings\u2019 plan to make McCarthy their 2025 starter. For Rodgers, it means the door to landing in Minnesota isn\u2019t closed. But ajar or not, there isn\u2019t currently a clear path to a starting spot with the Vikings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finally, there\u2019s some subtext about what transpired between free-agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Minnesota Vikings. And it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[1586,15472,3972,2772,7,392,1519,9864,233,259,2529,6,57,1878,261,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-43960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-adofo-mensah","10":"tag-brett-rypien","11":"tag-daniel-jones","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-indianapolis-colts","14":"tag-j-j-mccarthy","15":"tag-kwesi-adofo-mensah","16":"tag-minnesota","17":"tag-minnesota-vikings","18":"tag-minnesotavikings","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","21":"tag-sam-darnold","22":"tag-seattle-seahawks","23":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114494500161650132","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}