{"id":789619,"date":"2026-03-03T18:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/789619\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T18:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:39:23","slug":"leading-vikings-rumor-hits-a-snag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/789619\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading Vikings Rumor Hits a Snag"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a little while, the idea of making a move for quarterback Mac Jones was among the top Vikings rumors<\/a>. Soon enough, reality is going to arrive, allowing everyone to learn about how robust the interest is in the backup passer over in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

On The Athletic<\/a>, Matt Barrows and Vic Tafur suggest that Minnesota may opt for a cheaper option.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Minnesota Vikings were supposedly very interested,\u201d the authors explain, \u201cand there were a few teams that also needed someone like Jones, who won five games for the 49ers off the bench last season and is still only 27 years old. But a lot of those openings, it turns out, weren\u2019t so open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not too long afterwards, the quarterbacks who get linked to the Vikings are Anthony Richardson, Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, Kirk Cousins, and Tua Tagovailoa. Minnesota, evidently, will be keen to explore those who can be acquired without losing picks rather than pulling off a pricey trade.<\/p>\n

Vikings Rumor: Mac Jones as a Purple Passer (Possibly)<\/p>\n

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk makes note of the news, as well.<\/p>\n

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Florio writes<\/a>: \u201cWith plenty of free-agent options currently available \u2014 and with more coming as cuts are made \u2014 quarterback-needy teams are far more likely to consider players who could be acquired without losing a draft pick [\u2026] Jones is due to make only $3.25 million in 2026. If someone trades for him with the idea of making him the starter or a competitor for the job, he may want a raise. That adds another wrinkle to the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florio is exactly right. Employing a passer for cheap sounds great, but would Mac Jones still be cheap if he got picked up by the Vikings? If not, then that\u2019s an important factor to consider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"49ers<\/p>\n

Nov 2, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones (10) warms up prior to a game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

To be sure, there\u2019s much that remains to be determined.<\/p>\n

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Consider, for instance, the basic update about Minnesota looking to move on from DT Javon Hargrave and RB Aaron Jones<\/a>. Cutting these well-paid veterans is going to happen\u2026unless there\u2019s a trade. The thinking is that Minnesota will hold onto these players to see if they can pry away a pick (or two) once NFL teams strike out on attracting free agent talent in the early moments of free agency.<\/p>\n

See the overlap in the rationale? Teams aren\u2019t going to jump at Hargrave and Jones right now because there are cheaper options. If, however, other teams land the coveted talent, then maybe there\u2019s a front office willing to lessen the coffers a touch to bring one of these players to town.<\/p>\n

Likewise, San Francisco could be experiencing the calm before the storm. NFL free agency is bound to lead to some teams failing to sign the desired passer(s). The pivot could therefore be to pickup the phone to see about prying away Mr. Jones.<\/p>\n

The Vikings need a competent veteran quarterback<\/a>. Prior to getting fired, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah talked about the quarterback issue<\/a>. Kevin O\u2019Connell and Rob Brzezinski have since echoed a similar sentiment, talking openly about the apparent need to shore up the QB spot.<\/p>\n

\"Sep<\/p>\n

Sep 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones (10) passes against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

What\u2019s also needed in Minnesota (urgently) is to crush the draft. Trading away a pick for a passer thus looks like a \u201cstealing from Peter to pay for Paul\u201d situation. Much preferable would be filling the QB need without losing draft picks.<\/p>\n

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Indeed, shipping out a precious pick \u2014 or, quite possibly, a talented receiver<\/a> \u2014 is a tough pill to swallow. Not impossible, but not the first choice.<\/p>\n

Already, the NFL is seeing trades take place<\/a>. The Vikings appear likely to get into the action before too long, but the Mac Jones rumor may end up being much ado about nothing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a little while, the idea of making a move for quarterback Mac Jones was among the top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[220,6912,7,1507,1824,294,4827,5215,233,259,2529,55,56,6,1161,3452,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-789619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-aaron-jones","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-geno-smith","12":"tag-javon-hargrave","13":"tag-kirk-cousins","14":"tag-kyler-murray","15":"tag-mac-jones","16":"tag-minnesota","17":"tag-minnesota-vikings","18":"tag-minnesotavikings","19":"tag-new-orleans-saints","20":"tag-new-york-giants","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-san-francisco","23":"tag-tua-tagovailoa","24":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116166707215957502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789619","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=789619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}