Vikings Said No Thanks to a “One-Year Run at a Lombardi”
The Minnesota Vikings famously have never won a Super Bowl despite competing in the season’s final game four times. Since the 70s, countless devastating playoff endings daggered chances to return to the Super Bowl. There’s a reason this site’s name is PurplePTSD.
Vikings Said No Thanks to a “One-Year Run at a Lombardi”
It’s the ultimate goal for any team every single season. The Vikings have had respectable teams throughout the last decade, but, outside of perhaps the 2018 season following the quarterback upgrade, they haven’t been considered a real contender for a while.
This offseason, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah acquired numerous players to fix positions of need, and on paper, the roster has what it takes for a playoff run. The one main question they have to answer is the most important one for any team. Is J.J. McCarthy, the presumed starter, good enough for such a playoff journey?
Nobody knows. That’s why a certain future Hall of Famer called the club, asking whether they would be interested in hiring him. Aaron Rodgers is the man’s name, and the long-time foe wanted to join forces with Justin Jefferson and his gang.
That’s not really surprising, considering the surroundings any Vikings quarterback steps into. Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson are catching passes in the Twin Cities, Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones are running the rock, Kevin O’Connell is calling plays, the offensive line has been bolstered, and Brian Flores will likely once again coordinate a strong defense—a quarterback’s dream situation.
Albert Breer from SI reported what Rodgers told them. The former Packer had an intriguing pitch that involved the elusive Lombardi Trophy.
Breer wrote, “When the four-time MVP reached out to the Vikings, with the idea of making a one-year run at a Lombardi and tying it to being a willing mentor for McCarthy, the team felt it had to listen.”
The decision was between sticking with McCarthy and his development plan or putting that on ice for a year to chase the Super Bowl with Rodgers.
Rodgers will turn 42 during the upcoming season, and neither Darkness Retreat nor any exotic substances that have been linked to Rodgers can scare away Father Time enough to beat him. Last year, in his first season post-Achilles tear, he still tossed 28 touchdowns and close to 4,000 yards despite clearly losing a step or two. That’s what happens when an all-time great is declining; it still looks reasonable.
Advanced statistics, however, indicated a more abrupt dropoff. His EPA/Play+CPOE output placed him in a group with rookie Drake Maye, a struggling Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones (who ended up getting cut), and Trevor Lawrence.
Breer commented, “In the end, faced with all that, the Vikings found themselves emboldened to give McCarthy the runway to seize the job, the staff the opportunity to build the offense for him, and see how that looked at the end of the spring.”
He also quoted O’Connell talking about his young passer, “I’m excited to see him get that opportunity to pick up where he left off and be accelerated, just because of the mental growth that [McCarthy has] been able to have within our offense, and the verbiage and how we talk about plays. So it’s just a matter of continuing to progress, knowing we feel good about the football team we’ve put together. We’ve got the goal of surrounding the quarterback with the best possible team we can, both offensively and defensively. We feel really good about what that looks like.”
McCarthy has drawn praise from teammates and coaches ever since entering the building 11 months and change ago. The Vikings bank on him to be the missing piece in the Lombardi chase, and they take the risk of going with the unknown over the aging veteran.
Only time will tell whether the decision was wise or not. One thing is clear: O’Connell and his staff have earned the benefit of the doubt regarding quarterback judgments.
Rodgers has been linked to Pittsburgh. Guess which team is on Pittsburgh’s schedule in 2025.
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