J.J.

McCarthy

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell attempted to address McCarthy’s accuracy woes by harping on the young quarterback’s footwork last season. He also tends to fire passes “on a line,” which only exacerbates his ball placement issues. Per Lewis, McCarthy has spent weeks with private throwing coach John Beck to improve both issues. Time will tell if Beck’s teachings have the desired effect. Lastly, Lewis believes that the way “McCarthy shows up to work every day and how his habits progress in his third season” is the final piece to the puzzle. The Vikings want their 2026 starter, be it McCarthy or QB Kyler Murray, “to lift the tide for the entire team.” McCarthy has been fully unable to do so thus far. Despite being the incumbent, McCarthy is currently viewed as the underdog in this summer’s quarterback battle. Avoid him in spring drafts for now.

Schefter said on air Thursday night that Murray should be consider the odds-on favorite to start for Minnesota in Week 1 after signing a one-year deal worth more than $36 million. J.J. McCarthy, however, will get a shot to compete for the starting gig after his disastrous, injury-marred 2025 campaign. McCarthy, 23, entering his third NFL season, would have to stay healthy this summer to have a shot at taking the team’s QB1 spot, and he would need to improve in every facet of the game, including accuracy. Dillon Gabriel was the only quarterback with a lower completion rate over expected in 2025.

The front office brought in former Cardinals QB Kyler Murray this offseason. Murray, 28, is a far more accomplished player and can help stabilize the offense, whereas McCarthy’s ups and downs have proven costly. McCarthy seemingly faces an uphill battle to win the gig, though the team did invest the No. 10 overall pick in him in 2024.

The battle for QB1 will be between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy, with Florio believing the competition between the two will “commence during preseason practices and games.” This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but it lays to rest any assumptions that Murray will walk in as the unquestioned starter before camp. While we would expect Murray to ultimately win the job in runaway fashion, it sounds like McCarthy will be given every chance to prove he’s still the man for the job and a player worthy of the No. 10 overall pick the team used on him in 2024.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but in case there were any questions about Wentz impacting McCarthy, those can now be laid to rest. Seifert reports the decision to bring back Wentz is “about avoiding the depth emergencies” the Vikings experienced at QB in 2023 and 2025, which resulted from multiple injuries at the position. Wentz, 33, appeared in five games for the Vikings last season, going 2-3 as a starter while throwing for 1,216-6-5 on 169 attempts. A shoulder injury permanently sidelined him for the season after a Week 8 loss to the Chargers, but Wentz should be good to go at the start of next season, and could open the season as high as QB2 on the depth chart — assuming Kyler Murray wins the starting job.

Wentz explored free agency for a few weeks and the Jets seemingly showed some interest before going in a different direction. He’s now back in Minnesota after throwing for 1,216 yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions in 2025. Wentz went 2-3 as the team’s starter and before a shoulder injury knocked him out for the year. His return casts some doubt on the idea of J.J. McCarthy as the team’s QB2 behind Kyler Murray. At best, Wentz will push McCarthy for that role during the offseason.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that Murray will make $36.8 million this season. The Cardinals will pay all but the minimum salary. National and local journalists reported yesterday that Murray could sign with the Vikings today, but the former Cardinals quarterback notably set up virtual meetings with executives from three to five teams that might be in need of a new starting quarterback in 2027. He did so with the goal of getting a head start on next year’s free agency cycle, signaling he intended to sign a one-year prove-it deal with the Vikings if the two sides could come to an agreement. Pelissero notes that the Vikings hope competition for the starting role brings out “the best” in QB J.J. McCarthy following a poor 2025 season for the young quarterback. Murray should be considered the favorite to run away with the job at this time and could warrant QB1 treatment, guided by quarterback-guru head coach, Kevin O’Connell.

Schefter notes that “the belief across the league is that the Vikings are Murray’s likely landing spot.” Schefter also cites Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix’s John Gambadoro, who broke the news regarding the scheduled visit. Gambadoro believes that a deal between the two sides could be done in the next 24 hours because finding an opportunity to start is a priority for Murray, “and Minnesota does offer that.” Bad news for QB J.J. McCarthy. That said, per Gambadoro, Murray is “expected to explore several options as a backup in 2026 for teams that could need a starting QB in 2027 over the next 24 hours.” Stay tuned.

You rarely see a quarterback talked about in public the way McCarthy has been this offseason — we can’t remember the last time it was leaked that a coaching staff didn’t trust a quarterback to take throws over the middle of the field. So it does make some sense that the Vikings could cut ties with McCarthy. A source told Pauline that “the team is really down” on McCarthy and is ready to move on from him. We’re not sure who would be in the market for him (Harbaugh reunion in Los Angeles as a backup?) after these past two seasons, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Vikings tried to find a market for him.

Neither Brzezinski nor head coach Kevin O’Connell committed to J.J. McCarthy as the team’s 2026 starter following McCarthy’s ugly 2025 campaign. McCarthy, coming off a knee injury that wiped out his 2024 rookie season, ranked 39th out of 40 qualifying QBs in accuracy and 37th in drop backs success rate over ten games. O’Connell reportedly had to simplify the Minnesota playbook because McCarthy could not grasp the offense. “What we do know is we need a level of baseline quarterback play for us to be effective,” Brzezinski said. “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.” The team’s firing of GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah last month might mean McCarthy’s time with the Vikings is all but over. Look for the Vikings to talk with Kirk Cousins in the coming weeks as the Falcons are expected to part ways with the former Minnesota starter. They could also show interest in Kyler Murray and Aaron Rodgers this offseason.