{"id":911441,"date":"2026-06-06T10:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/911441\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T10:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:09:20","slug":"viking-rumor-watch-the-top-trade-piece-j-j-mccarthy-controversy-week-1-perk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/911441\/","title":{"rendered":"Viking Rumor Watch: The Top Trade Piece, J.J. McCarthy \u201cControversy,\u201d Week 1 Perk"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> recently got organized team activities underway and even hired a new general mananger this week \u2014 Nolan Teasley<\/a> from the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>. With those events in the rearview, it\u2019s time to glance at the weekend rumor mill.<\/p>\n

The franchise will get training camp in motion at the end of July, and the regular season is about three months away.<\/p>\n

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Minnesota\u2019s Rumor Mill Gets a Summer Jolt\"DetroitDetroit Lions<\/a> tight end Sam LaPorta<\/a> fends off Minnesota Vikings safety Theo Jackson<\/a> during an NFC North matchup at Ford Field. LaPorta remained a key component of Detroit\u2019s offense, creating yards after contact and challenging defenders throughout the contest. The play occurred on Nov. 2, 2025, during an important divisional showdown. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n

Rumor: Theo Jackson is the Vikings<\/a>\u2019 main trade asset before the start of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report\u2018s Moe Moton decided this week that Jackson was the Vikings\u2019 most logical trade candidate this summer,\u00a0noting<\/a>, \u201cTheo Jackson made our list of potential cut candidates after the Minnesota Vikings selected safety Jakobe Thomas in the third round of this year\u2019s draft. Jackson is among the Vikings\u2019 trade candidates for the same reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, he could garner interest from the Washington Commanders<\/a>, who hired Minnesota\u2019s former defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator,\u00a0Daronte Jones<\/a>. Working directly under Jones, Jackson made strides as a downhill defender, logging 47 tackles (three for loss) and two sacks in 14 contests.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Most fans consider Jackson on the roster bubble as of early June.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, Jackson gave up too much ground in coverage, allowing a 131.5 passer rating and a 71.4 percent completion rate. Regardless of Thomas\u2019 progress through his first offseason in the pros, Minnesota may attempt to trade Jackson because of his limitations on passing downs,\u201d Moton added.<\/p>\n

If the Vikings\u2019 front office agrees with Moton, it would likely fetch a late-round pick from a safety-needy team for Jackson\u2019s services.<\/p>\n

Rumor: Kevin O\u2019Connell was unfazed by J.J. McCarthy\u2019s comments last week about his role in the QB1 roster battle.<\/p>\n

McCarthy\u2019s comments about his role in the QB1 battle<\/a> turned heads last week, and reporters were quick to ask O\u2019Connell about his take on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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He replied<\/a>, \u201cThe interpretation of those comments will be what they are. I would just say, in the room, day to day, the dialogue between those guys, the interactions, have been very professional. And more than that, it\u2019s been a positive room. I think Carson has a lot to do with that, as the veteran in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I would never discount\u00a0Josh McCown\u2019s extensive career<\/a>\u00a0as a player in those quarterback rooms and how he manages the room and everybody in there. So I didn\u2019t make a lot out of it. I know there was some reaction to it. That\u2019s probably not the first time there\u2019s gonna be a reaction to those guys answering questions about the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VikingsMinnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy<\/a> speaks with reporters following organized team activities at TCO Performance Center in Eagan. McCarthy addressed quarterback room dynamics, offseason preparation, and chemistry-building efforts as Minnesota continued its spring program. The media session took place on May 27, 2026, during another busy week of OTA workouts. Mandatory Credit: YouTube.<\/p>\n

The skipper also said that he expects fierce competition and does not require his players to smile during camp battles.<\/p>\n

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He continued, \u201cThat\u2019s what the competition is all about. There\u2019s no hiding anything. It\u2019s going to be displayed on the field, and their teammates and coaching staff <\/a>and the guys in this building have to feel a conviction about the direction we go, and you do that by your daily habits, and just improving.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell added about McCarthy, \u201cI think he\u2019s handling it really well. He\u2019s been great in the meeting rooms. As a captain and a guy that helps lead our team, he\u2019s been phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rumor: The Vikings won\u2019t face Micah Parsons<\/a> in Week 1 when the Packers<\/a> roll into town.<\/p>\n

Parsons is officially a no-go for Vikings-Packers on September 13th. ESPN\u2019s<\/p>\n

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Rob Demovsky\u00a0wrote Wednesday<\/a>, \u201cMicah Parsons\u2019 initial hope that he could return within the first month of the season was never realistic, and the Green Bay Packers\u2019 star edge rusher has come to terms with that. Parsons said Wednesday that he\u2019s just past the five-month mark from his\u00a0ACL surgery<\/a>, which he revealed also included a procedure on his meniscus, and that he won\u2019t be cleared to be back on the football field \u2014 even for practice \u2014 until the nine-month mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would put his earliest possible return to practice in late September, and the Packers likely would not allow him to play in a game until after several weeks of practice. Parsons is likely to open the season on the physically unable to perform list, which means he would automatically miss at least four games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PackersGreen Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons leaves the field with assistance from medical personnel after suffering an injury against the Denver Broncos<\/a>. The situation created concern for Green Bay<\/a> as teammates and staff gathered around the veteran defender. The injury occurred on Dec. 14, 2025, at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n

Rookie Danny Dennis-Sutton could get the nod in Parsons\u2019s place.<\/p>\n

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Parsons isn\u2019t the only star Packers fans should monitor. Tight end Tucker Kraft<\/a> is recovering from a torn ACL sustained in November, making his Week 1 availability uncertain. Running back Josh Jacobs<\/a> is also facing domestic violence accusations, a situation expected to create heavy offseason drama for the team.<\/p>\n

Too, tackle Zach Tom<\/a> injured his knee last year, though the coaching staff is optimistic about his speedy return. Therefore, it\u2019s conceivable the Vikings could face the Packers without Parsons, Kraft, and Jacobs. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Vikings recently got organized team activities underway and even hired a new general mananger this week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":911442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[258,113,7,41,1519,4129,28350,6192,9737,491,233,259,2529,6,4266,428,7472,261,23207,14233,234,111,9161],"class_list":["post-911441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-vikings","tag-denver-broncos","tag-detroit-lions","tag-football","tag-green-bay","tag-j-j-mccarthy","tag-josh-jacobs","tag-josh-mccown","tag-kevin-oconnell","tag-mandatory-credit","tag-micah-parsons","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-minnesotavikings","tag-nfl","tag-organized-team-activities","tag-packers","tag-sam-laporta","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-theo-jackson","tag-tucker-kraft","tag-vikings","tag-washington-commanders","tag-zach-tom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116702620402346768","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911441","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=911441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/911442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}