Vikings Lose QB to NFC Rival
For a little while, the Seattle Seahawks have been a destination for former Vikings. Well, the trend continued with the news from The NFL’s Network‘s Tom Pelissero.
The league insider shared the news that Jaren Hall has opted to join their practice squad: “The #Seahawks signed former #Vikings QB Jaren Hall to the practice squad.” By losing Hall, the Vikings will have to move ahead with their newly-formed quarterback hierarchy consisting of Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, and Brett Rypien.
Vikings Lose Jaren Hall to Seahawks
Is there much upside in the Jaren Hall decision? After all, Rypien has already been around for a little while and has a career 4/9 TD-to-INT ratio.
At this stage, there’s essentially zero chance that Rypien becomes anything other than a QB2/3. Hall, meanwhile, still has room to grow. Couldn’t the BYU alumnus still develop into an upside QB2?
Oftentimes, the best measure of someone’s potential rests in how they bounce back from adversity. Minnesota’s trio of exhibition games offer bit of an example of overcoming some poor play.
Preseason Game #1 was bad, yes, but Hall didn’t allow that poor effort to sink his confidence. Instead, he put together fine days against the Browns and then the Eagles.
Consider the basic numbers:
| Game | Completions | Yards | TDs | INTs |
| Raiders | 7/16 | 63 | 0 | 0 |
| @ Browns | 4/5 | 87 | 2 | 0 |
| @ Eagles | 17/25 | 189 | 2 | 0 |
Make no mistake: Jaren Hall has potential. No, he’s not likely to ever become an NFL starter — he’s already 26 — but the man could end up being a strong backup. Shouldn’t the Vikings have made it a priority to keep him? After all, there is only a single QB under contract for the 2025 season. J.J. McCarthy, fresh off his lost season due to the meniscus tear, will be in town but all of Darnold, Mullens, and Rypien will be free agents. Having a bit more QB continuity may have been a positive.
Just last season, Minnesota leaned on Hall to finish off the Packers in Week 8. Yes, it was out of necessity, but Kevin O’Connell wasn’t just handing the ball off. The head coach was calling pass plays for the rookie from BYU.
And then in Week 9 and 17, Hall was leaned on to be the starter. Both games ended up being cut short — one due to injury and the other due to poor play — but there’s still something there for Mr. Hall. The sophomore has a brain in his head and moves pretty well on the ground. He’ll never be accused of having the world’s strongest arm but can throw with good touch.
In Seattle, Geno Smith is the top passer, someone who knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity. Backing up Smith is Sam Howell, who was chosen in the 5th Round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Any chance Jaren Hall looked at that QB hierarchy and saw some opportunity get onto an active roster?
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah did explain last week that the team would “try” to bring their young passer back and O’Connell expressed optimism in being able to do so. The result ended up being what the top decision makers didn’t want to happen, though.
Jaren Hall completed 65% of his passes as a rookie for 168 yards, 0 TDs, and 1 INT. He was going to carry a cap charge sitting at less than $1 million into the season.
Minnesota and Seattle are scheduled to play each other in Week 16.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, 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.