Could J.J. McCarthy Really Be Traded This Offseason?
The idea of a trade involving Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy sounds very silly. The kid has only played 10 games, and technically has a 6-4 record as a starter, although to be fair, that doesn’t tell the whole story whatsoever. Sure, the Minnesota Vikings brought in QB Kyler Murray to compete with them. However, McCarthy is on a relatively cheap deal compared to the real QB market, and the Vikings have full control over his contract for the next three years.
All of that sounds great, but there are some legitimate points of contention for the Vikings keeping McCarthy. One of the major ones was brought up recently in a trade hypothetical involving J.J. McCarthy packing his bags and flying out west.
J.J. McCarthy Involved in Vikings-Cardinals Trade Pitch
Wynston Wilcox of FanSided recently made a pitch for the Vikings to send J.J. McCarthy packing to go play for the Arizona Cardinals. This would be interesting, seeing as it would essentially play out as if the Cardinals traded Kyler Murray and extra draft capital for J.J. McCarthy.
Check out the trade pitch from Wilcox:
- Cardinals receive: QB J.J. McCarthy
Vikings receive: 2027 5th rounder, 2027 7th rounder
And the justification from Wilcox, including a legitimate point of contention:
“The writing is on the wall; Kyler Murray is the new quarterback in town, and the Minnesota Vikings even brought Carson Wentz back too. That should tell J.J. McCarthy everything he needs to know about his job security in Minnesota. The only good thing about McCarthy staying in Minnesota for now is that both Murray and Wentz are injury-prone; outside of that, he’s as good as traded already.”
If you exclude McCarthy, it is true that the Vikings technically have a starting-caliber QB in Murray, as well as a backup-caliber QB in Wentz. If the Vikings were to trade McCarthy, it would be very similar to when the 49ers traded Trey Lance to the Cowboys a handful of years ago. The Lance trade occurred after his second season, and he had played even less games than McCarthy. In the return for Lance, the 49ers fetched a 4th round pick. This happened after none-other than Sam Darnold came and took the backup job to starter Brock Purdy.
The Likelihood of a J.J. McCarthy Trade
Chances of anything happening in the NFL are never zero. However, the chances do feel higher than what many of McCarthy’s loyalists would want to admit.
If I had to put money on it, I would be pretty confident in saying that J.J. McCarthy remains in Minnesota for at least this season. It would feel awkward, though, if Murray started all year, the Vikings let him walk for whatever reason, and they just try to go right back to McCarthy. Sure, an NFL QB isn’t going to turn down a starting job that often, but would all trust have been lost at that point from McCarthy towards the organization?
It’s still early in the offseason, and fans are looking for every stone to turn for answers to the Vikings’ QB situation in the short-term and long-term. McCarthy will probably be a Viking in 2026, which sounds obvious, but it isn’t quite as unlikely as it sounds when you hear the proposition for the first time.
