For the Vikings, It’s About J.J. and Jets Walking in Lockstep
For the Vikings, the ideal world will involve J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson setting Minnesota’s passing attack ablaze.
The rookie passer is currently the backup in Minnesota, but the plan is to hand things over before too long. One would assume that 2025 is the target goal with the possibility of even earlier if all the stars align. Meanwhile, Jefferson is coming off of his huge extension, so he’ll be leaned on to be Minnesota’s leader moving forward.
For the Vikings, It’s All About the (Eventual) QB1 & The WR1
Saying that there’s a natural connection between a quarterback and wide receiver isn’t groundbreaking stuff. In Minnesota, though, things may be especially pronounced.
McCarthy is replacing an excellent QB in Kirk Cousins. Notably, he’s doing so as the No. 10 selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. No passer has ever been picked so high in Minnesota’s history, so there’s reasonable optimism about what the young Wolverine can do as a pro.
Helping McCarthy acclimate to life in the pros is Jefferson, the NFL’s best receiver. Getting open early and often is going to help McCarthy whenever he’s tasked with getting onto the field. Throwing to an open receiver rather than needing to throw a receiver open is much easier for any quarterback, regardless of their status as a rookie or a veteran.
But then one also thinks of their contracts. The two deals are bedfellows, offering the potential to move hand-in-hand since the team is working with five years of team control for both. Jefferson is going into his 5th-year option year and then has had four more years tacked on. Meanwhile, McCarthy is going into his four-year rookie contract and there’s a 5th-year option for the Vikings to consider on the back end.
The social media team has been doing their part to highlight the connection between the two:
The icing on top is that the dressing room features J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson being neighbors.
The young QB spoke to the media on June 12th. The question was about whether the young passer has been able to put in some work with his top option in the passing game. But while there has just been a single pass between the two, McCarthy did clarify how the dressing room is set up: “Obviously, we’re locker neighbors, so it’s nice to get those off-the-field interactions with him.”
The Vikings understand that their future is wrapped up in the connection between these players. Jefferson is already elite, but McCarthy has a long way to go before he can claim that descriptor for himself. Seeing the two morph into one of the league’s top QB/WR connections is paramount to finally being able to end the Super Bowl curse.
McCarthy is 21 and Jefferson is 25. Minnesota is looking for the pair to complement each other for years to come.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.