The Vikings are having a true competition at the quarterback. It’s not shaping up to be much of a competition.
Based on this week’s OTA session that was open to the media, newcomer Kyler Murray is well ahead of incumbent starter J.J. McCarthy.
Here’s the key quote from Kevin Seifert of ESPN: “Overall, the afternoon was a reminder that McCarthy could continue along the upward trajectory he established at the end of last season -- and still fall well short of matching Murray’s experience, arm talent and potential to make big plays in the passing game.”
Pro football is the ultimate meritocracy. The Vikings lucked into Murray, the first overall pick in 2019. Cut by the Cardinals with more than $30 million in guaranteed money for 2026, the Vikings were able to get Murray — who grew up a Vikings fan — for the league minimum of $1.3 million.
McCarthy has had a fair shake. He has missed too much time due to injury, and availability is absolutely a skill. Also, McCarthy has had issues with accuracy and a fastball-heavy arsenal that keeps the Vikings from using layered passes to fuel the intermediate passing game.
If McCarthy had done well enough in 2025, the Vikings wouldn’t have been looking for another viable starter in 2026. Now, the best player will play.
So far, Murray is on track to be the better of the two. Which will help the Vikings achieve a better outcome than they experienced in McCarthy’s first year as the unquestioned starter.
The 49ers ended up with not one but two international games in 2026 — one in Australia and one in Mexico. Even though the trip to Melbourne will be much longer than the trip to Mexico City, the Mexico trip will likely keep them away from home even longer than the season-opener down under.
“We haven’t finalized it yet, but we’d love to stay here and go there,” Shanahan said of the travel plans for the Week 11 game against the Vikings in Mexico City. “It’s a shorter flight, but that’s not really the issue. The main thing with Mexico City is it’s 2,000 [feet] higher than Denver. And so, we like to get adjusted to that altitude. So, we’ll probably go to Colorado Springs again like we did last time to get ready for that altitude and then probably go to Mexico City the night before.”
The 49ers play their Week 10 game at Dallas. Shanahan was asked whether the team would go straight to Colorado from Texas.
“We haven’t decided that yet, but most likely,” Shanahan said. “We’ll probably end up, the Mexico City trip will probably be a longer one than the Australia one, just because of that.”
The two international trips impose a significant burden on the 49ers. And it potentially creates a competitive disadvantage. Those issues, however, have taken a back seat to the league’s efforts to globalize the game.
The NFL wants to secure the ability to play 16 international games per year, with the idea of having every team make one international trip per season. That would be the fairest way to handle it. If every team has to leave the country once, the disadvantage levels out.
For now, with a maximum of 10 international games, it would be far more fair for no team to be expected to travel to another country for a game more than once per year. In the ultra-difficult NFC West, having the 49ers make two separate trips to play in another country won’t make it an easier to successfully compete with the Seahawks and the Rams.
The Vikings completed a second round of General Manager interviews on Thursday, Alec Lewis of TheAthletic.com reports.
It is unclear whether the Vikings will need more due diligence before a decision, but the expectation has been that they would make a hire by early June.
The Vikings reportedly had a second round of interviews with their executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, Broncos assistant GM Reed Burckhardt, Bills assistant GM Terrance Gray, Rams assistant GM John McKay and Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley. Brzezinski has been doing the job in Minnesota on an interim basis since they fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
49ers assistant GM RJ Gillen, Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler and Lions Assistant GM Ray Agnew were other candidates in the first round and Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander declined an interview request.
The Vikings fired Adofo-Mensah after four seasons on Jan. 30.
The Vikings have a quarterback competition, between the player who was presumed to be the quarterback of the future and a newcomer who is looking to turn the clock back to 2020.
Both guys want to play. Unless coach Kevin O’Connell plans to implement a two-quarterback offense, only one will.
On Wednesday, incumbent starter J.J. McCarthy downplayed (unconvincingly) the inherently awkward nature of the situation. Kyler Murray separately addressed his relationship with McCarthy.
“It’s been great,” Murray told reporters. “It’s been great. Obviously, I know he’s a younger guy, so any way I can help him, obviously, I feel like, you know, I’ve played seven years now going on eight.
“So I’m considered a veteran, even though I don’t see myself as that. Give him any knowledge that he needs. Again, you know, we’re both competitors, and I know we both want what’s best for the team.”
Has McCarthy been receptive to Murray’s input?
“Of course, of course,” Murray said. “Yeah, he’s overly acceptive, you know, and he’s always communicating, asking questions, stuff like that, so it’s been good.”
No matter how good it is, it’s not going to end well for one of them. Based on Murray’s history and accomplishments, he’s the obvious favorite to win the competition. Unless, that is, his mere presence prompts McCarthy to unlock a higher level of performance.
That’s the goal for the Vikings. For only $1.3 million, they have been able to add a veteran who will either push McCarthy to get better or shove him aside. And it all comes down to what happens on the practice field (for now) and eventually what the eventual starter does during the games that count.
J.J. McCarthy went into the 2025 offseason as the Vikings’ unquestioned starter. He went into this offseason competing with Kyler Murray for the starting job.
Murray is the favorite to win the job.
McCarthy, a first-round pick in 2024, made his first public comments since the Vikings signed Murray on March 12.
“It’s just like two guys in a classroom,” McCarthy said Wednesday, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “He sits on one side, I sit on the other side, and it’s the coach’s responsibility to teach us and coach us.”
McCarthy insists there is no “awkwardness” between the quarterbacks.
“Awkwardness? It’s just like the same feeling when you’re in high school, and there’s another person on the other side of the room,” McCarthy said. “That’s just kind of how it is. I wouldn’t say there’s any awkwardness.”
Coach Kevin O’Connell has not named a starter, giving McCarthy a chance to compete with Murray. The team’s top two quarterbacks took turns making throws to the first-team wide receivers.
McCarthy, 23, went 6-4 as the Vikings’ starter last season, throwing for 1,631 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It prompted the Vikings to sign Murray to a one-year, $1.3 million contract after the Cardinals released him.
McCarthy said he remains focused on what he can control.
“The organization made a decision that they feel like is going to improve the depth and the quality of the room, and they feel like they made that decision,” McCarthy said. “All I’m thinking about is continuing the upward trajectory that I set for myself last season, that last quarter of the season and continuing to be the best version of me every single day.”
