On J.J. McCarthy Embracing a Demotion with a Vikings Add at Quarterback
Through the 2025 offseason, J.J. McCarthy had to work through an odd jumble of realities.
Minnesota allowed Sam Darnold to depart. The effort was made to retain Daniel Jones, but he decided to become a Colt. Pivoting off those realities meant bringing Sam Howell to town, someone who never looked like a threat to challenge for the QB1 job.
But then the odd detail is that Minnesota refused to name McCarthy as the starter. Kevin O’Connell would hint at the reality without putting the crown on the kid’s head. McCarthy, for his part, played along, acknowledging that he welcomed needing to earn the top spot.
How should he respond if the team does bring a legit starting-level passer to town?
Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy & The Benefit of Demotion
As things stand, Minnesota’s passer spot contains just McCarthy alongside Max Brosmer. Quite possibly, Minnesota’s best path forward is to demote both. Consider, for instance, a depth chart that looks like this option:
- QB1:
- QB2: J.J. McCarthy
- QB3: Carson Wentz
- QB4: Max Brosmer
Much to be excited about within that hierarchy (assuming a strong top option gets added). Dropping Brosmer down to fourth means being able to develop him on the practice squad, an appropriate role given his struggles as a rookie.
Meanwhile, there’s both a sturdier floor and higher ceiling within the other portions of the depth chart.
J.J. McCarthy as a top backup makes a lot of sense. He can step away from the spotlight to keep working on his craft. Less pressure and more development. And, crucially, compete like crazy from within the team context to push for that top spot, ensuring he’s ready to fill the job — being the starter — when it becomes available.
Sliding Carson Wentz into the QB3 job makes a pile of sense.
The veteran doesn’t need to soak up a ton of snaps in practice before being ready to roll (something Kwesi Adofo-Mensah praised in Wentz prior to getting fired). The former No. 2 pick can feed the ball to Justin Jefferson, will likely play for cheap, and has tremendous size. Teams can do much worse than Mr. Wentz as the emergency third option.
The remaining questions get shrunk down to a pair. Most pressing is who could get added to start. Most confusing is why J.J. McCarthy should welcome — not just accept — a potential replacement.
Currently, there’s a lot of digital ink being thrown around that’s linking Kyler Murray to the Vikings. No doubt, adding the Cardinal would be a ton of fun since he’s so elusive and throws the ball so well. Working against adding him is that he’s pricey, small, a tough scheme fit, and someone who has been injured quite a bit.
Or, perhaps, there could be Aaron Rodgers. Or Derek Carr. Or Kirk Cousins. Or Mac Jones. Or on and on it goes.
J.J. McCarthy should welcome any and all challengers. Doing so is what’s best for the team. The Vikings’ QB spot must get better, so that reality alone means that welcoming an upgrade is to be embraced.
But then there’s another component about J.J. McCarthy that the Vikings want to see: an unshakable confidence in himself and a deep competitive fire that doesn’t get extinguished. Essentially, McCarthy should be so competitive that he tells the Vikings’ redone front office to bring in whoever it wants at QB; McCarthy’s response should be that he’ll play so well that the starting job remains his no matter who gets signed.
J.J. McCarthy, 23, is going to be written off as a draft bust if he can’t play well sooner rather than later. Ratcheting up the internal competition would be one way of challenging the kid to bring the best version of himself to the field.
The NFL free agent flirtations get rolling on March 9th with legal tampering.
