Dumb Vikings Trade Idea Makes Its Return
It’s quite a strange world for Vikings fans right now. The Purple faithful have to ask themselves whether they want their longtime rival Aaron Rodgers to quarterback their football team in the upcoming season, as the rumors continue to be out there, and a new QB2 hasn’t been signed yet to end them.
Dumb Vikings Trade Idea Makes Its Return
J.J. McCarthy is the presumed starter; well, unless Rodgers enters the building. The future Hall of Famer has a few suitors and surely wouldn’t sign with a team that views him as the backup option.
The Vikings still haven’t publicly declared McCarthy their starting passer for the upcoming season. Of course, he just missed his entire rookie season, and the club probably wants to see him throw in the spring and summer practices before making that call.
However, that pause has led to some speculation about whether they are really sold on last year’s tenth overall pick. The fact that they just let someone leave after leading them to the playoffs with 35 touchdowns aside, of course.
Well, FS1’s Nick Wright used the conversation to revive last year’s trade rumors. Would Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh be interested in reuniting with his student from the Michigan days? And it would cost him only franchise quarterback Justin Herbert, one of the best throwers of the ball in the NFL.
Wright said on First Things First: “If the Vikings are this squeamish about J.J. McCarthy… then they should quietly call the Chargers, be like hey, Jim Harbaugh, this guy who you used to say was the best quarterback you ever coached, best quarterback in [the] draft, we’ll give you him and our first-round pick and we’ll take Justin Herbert.”
Those talkers usually die when free agency kicks off, but here we are.
To use the name of his show, first things first, the Chargers will not trade Herbert. He is one of the most talented signal-callers in the league, and he has just turned 27 years old. Oh, and then there’s the fact that a trade would punish the Chargers with a salary cap penalty of $95 million in dead money.
Herbert is a proven commodity in the league, with over 21,000 passing yards and 137 scores in 79 games. They want to build on their 11-6 season and finally get over the wild card hump instead of starting an unproven mystery man, regardless of his relationship with Harbaugh.
McCarthy is coming off an injury and has never attempted a pass in his NFL career. Could he develop into a player like Herbert? Of course. But there’s also a chance his game doesn’t translate to the NFL level. Many first-round quarterbacks fizzle out because of that, and McCarthy comes with that risk, too.
However, it should be noted that all comments from Eagan, Minnesota about McCarthy have been positive ever since he stepped into the building for the first time, and even rumors that suggest otherwise simply don’t exist.
All of this sounds like a novel, a story of two guys who once fought for the same job — the Vikings’ head coach position — and are now in love with the same person. The movie of the subsequent love drama might break your heart.
But this is the NFL (that also continues to break the hearts of Vikings fans every January), and that trade idea is dumb for numerous reasons.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt