{"id":898798,"date":"2026-05-23T05:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/898798\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:33:18","slug":"kyler-murray-signing-could-make-or-break-vikings-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/898798\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyler Murray Signing Could Make or Break Vikings\u2019 2026 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> have all the makings of a top-10 offense.<\/p>\n

With running back Aaron Jones<\/a>, wide receivers Justin Jefferson<\/a>, Jordan Addison<\/a>, and Jauan Jennings<\/a>, and tight end T.J. Hockenson<\/a>, Minnesota is seemingly just a quarterback away from being dangerous.<\/p>\n

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So when the Vikings signed two-time Pro Bowler and former Offensive Rookie of the Year Kyler Murray<\/a> this offseason, many thought it was the kind of move that could catapult them back into not only playoff contention but could put them in position to win the NFC North.<\/p>\n

In fact, ESPN\u2019s Mike Clay seems to believe the Murray signing could make or break Minnesota\u2019s 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to think about the possibilities of Murray in this offense,\u201d Clay wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019ll provide an accurate and strong arm to the Vikings\u2019 downfield passing concepts, once he gets accustomed to an offense that likely will have him working under center more often than he did with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

\"MinnesotaKyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> throws the ball against the New Orleans Saints<\/a> during the NFL 2025 game between Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome on September 07, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cMurray will also offer a new element of escapability that coach Kevin O\u2019Connell hasn\u2019t had in Minnesota, with the brief exception of Joshua Dobbs<\/a> in 2023. Under O\u2019Connell, the Vikings have been double-digit winners in the regular season when they have had solid, veteran quarterbacking. They were 13-4 with Kirk Cousins<\/a> in 2022 and 14-3 with Sam Darnold<\/a> in 2024. Murray more than fits the profile.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Murray adds several dimensions that incumbent J.J. McCarthy<\/a> doesn\u2019t \u2014 he\u2019s mobile, more accurate (he has a 67.1 career completion percentage), can throw on the run, and he doesn\u2019t crumble under pressure.<\/p>\n

The former No. 1 overall pick has thrown for 20,460 yards, 120 touchdowns, and 60 interceptions with 92.2 passer rating in seven seasons. He\u2019s also rushed for 3,193 yards and 32 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

With the weapons Minnesota possesses, having a signal-caller who can escape from the pocket and make the down-field throws in the face of pressure could be just what the Vikings offense needs.<\/p>\n

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Start your unlimited Newsweek trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Vikings have all the makings of a top-10 offense. With running back Aaron Jones, wide receivers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[6912,390,7,1519,10117,8265,9538,2780,294,4827,9303,233,259,2529,55,6,1878,9250,234],"class_list":["post-898798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-vikings","tag-aaron-jones","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-football","tag-j-j-mccarthy","tag-jauan-jennings","tag-jordan-addison","tag-joshua-dobbs","tag-justin-jefferson","tag-kirk-cousins","tag-kyler-murray","tag-mike-clay","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-minnesotavikings","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-nfl","tag-sam-darnold","tag-t-j-hockenson","tag-vikings"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116622262667520237","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898798","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=898798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}