After the Offseason You’ve Been Asking For…Is 2025 Our Year?
For years, Vikings fans have asked for big moves in free agency. This year, it finally happened.
The biggest offseason splashes have come in the trenches, with the signings of C Ryan Kelly, G Will Fries, and DTs Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. The team also filled holes at CB with the signings of Jeff Okudah and Isaiah Rodgers, and they successfully resigned key starters such as S Harrison Smith, RB Aaron Jones, and CB Byron Murphy Jr.
So, is this the Vikings’ year?
On paper, it’s hard to think of the last time the Vikings put together such a complete roster. The biggest holes coming into the offseason have already been filled, with significant upgrades in many cases. Add to this one of the league’s best coaching duos in Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores, and you’ve got the start of a recipe for success.
Of course, there is one crucial ingredient that remains in doubt: the QB position.
Jalen Hurts just showed that a team doesn’t need an elite QB (or a cheap QB) to win a Super Bowl: his 2024 PFF grade was even lower than Aaron Rodgers’ grade, for instance. But with a great team around him, Hurts was good enough to win and clutch enough to play his best football when the games mattered most. Even if the Vikings’ roster lives up to the hype in 2025, they’ll be out of luck if they can’t get competent play from their QB.
At this point, there are no sure bets remaining for the Vikings. J.J. McCarthy is the most likely and perhaps best option, and he impressed in limited preseason action in 2024 before tearing his meniscus.
The Vikings could turn to a veteran, but then they run the risk of some combination of age, injury, and/or consistency concerns. No matter what path the Vikings take, QB will be the big question mark heading into 2025.
The good news is, this doesn’t necessarily have to be the Vikings’ season. This team is built to compete in 2025 and beyond, with almost all the Vikings’ key players signed through (at least) 2026. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows that even the best teams can have bad days (see, e.g., the most recent Lions game), and thus, he has built a team with the goal in mind of being a perennial contender.
Even if (knock on wood) McCarthy is a complete flop, the team can easily pivot to a new QB in 2026, and Kwesi has shown that he has no qualms with moving on from players quickly if they aren’t working out.
So, in the words of Terrell Owens, “Get your popcorn ready,” Vikings fans, “it’s going to be a show.”
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