Vikings Need to Avoid the J.J. McCarthy Mistake
Sam Darnold is going to the Super Bowl and it’s fairly easy to criticize the Minnesota Vikings for letting him walk instead of raising the contract offer or using the franchise tag. No, Skol Nation had to watch 17 games of mostly subpar quarterback play. Therefore, it’s not too surprising to see fans call for jobs or massive changes in the QB room.
The Vikings are expected to hire another quarterback to compete with J.J. McCarthy, who is about to enter his third year in the NFL. At least that’s what both Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell implied at their season-ending presser, when they both mentioned the goal of assembling a “competitive” QB room.
That competition should arrive at some point in March’s free agency or via trade around that time to make sure next year’s goal will be reached rather than once again facing elimination in November.
However, entirely giving up on McCarthy after only ten games would be just as foolish as entering the 2025 season with him as the only realistic starting option. It would bring a significant risk that he’s suddenly the next Darnold, a quarterback they let walk and who’s successful elsewhere.
Sure, if they can find a bona fide superstar like Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson — who are unbelievably unlikely to become available in the first place — it’s fine to move on from the young passer, but if they can’t, McCarthy needs to be part of the QB room moving forward.
Like Darnold prior to unlocking his potential, McCarthy offers some sweet tools. He has a rocket arm and can hurt defenses with his legs, while his leadership skills have been praised ad nauseam.
There’s no guarantee it will ever fully work out, but abandoning that upside too early carries its own risk. After all, the 2024 tenth overall pick has already shown progress in his last few games in his 2025 campaign.
In his first six games, McCarthy passed for 6 touchdowns and 10 picks, completing 54.1% of his passes with an average yards per attempt of 5.8. In his last four contests, he completed 64.3% of his passes for 5 touchdowns and 2 picks, with a strong average of 8.4 yards per attempt.
Granted, the sample size is small, but it’s progress nevertheless. He also looked much more comfortable operating the offense and executing plays and there’s a chance he’ll develop further in the upcoming offseason and continue his upward trajectory next season.
It should be added that his growth would provide the Vikings with way more upside than any of the possible bridge starters.
Overall, there were too many struggles and paired with the injuries, a fallback plan needs to be acquired by the Vikings. But unless that’s an automatic MVP-candidate, McCarthy needs to stick around. A hypothetical trade of McCarthy for Kyler Murray could open the door to a Darnold 2.0 scenario. It can’t be ruled out that he’d thrive in his new environment.
The Vikings don’t need to crown J.J. McCarthy as the long-term answer — but they also can’t afford to create another Sam Darnold situation by giving up too early on a talented quarterback who is still developing. Smart teams protect themselves without sabotaging their own upside.
If Minnesota truly wants to avoid repeating past mistakes, the path forward is clear: bring in real competition, maintain flexibility, and allow McCarthy the chance to prove whether his late-season growth was real. Walking away too quickly would risk turning today’s uncertainty into tomorrow’s regret.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.