Reporter Pulls Back the Curtain on J.J. McCarthy Trade Talk
Once again, the Minnesota Vikings had a tumultuous quarterback offseason. Kirk Cousins was replaced by Sam Darnold in 2024, Darnold by J.J. McCarthy in 2025 and now, perhaps McCarthy’s spot will be snatched by Kyler Murray.
With the Vikings still unsure whether McCarthy can be the long-term solution, and given the acquisition of a potential starter, folks have wondered whether the 23-year-old might be on the chopping block.
The Cardinals traded Josh Rosen to Miami in 2019, ironically also to make room for Murray. Fellow 2018 classmate Sam Darnold was traded from the Jets to Carolina in 2021. Trey Lance was shipped to Dallas in 2024. Indianapolis, meanwhile, is currently trying to find a suitor for Anthony Richardson.
McCarthy could be another name on that list. All of them had limited playing time with subpar results and/or struggled with injuries and their team conceded after a short time. Not so fast, says ESPN’s Dan Graziano. He’s pumping the brakes on a McCarthy trade.
Graziano wrote, “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to trade him. The Vikings have already paid 70% of McCarthy’s rookie contract. There’s no way they could get anything in return that remotely approaches what they spent in terms of draft capital to acquire him in the first place. They’re less than a year removed from believing he could be their starter, not just now but for years to come. And it’s not like Murray is some automatic fix, either. He has had one fully healthy season in the past five, and the Cardinals are paying him almost $36 million this year to play for another team.”
He’s certainly right about the return. Given previous quarterback trades, including the aforementioned first-rounders, a mid-round pick would be a realistic package for McCarthy. In the meantime, the club spent the tenth overall pick on the Michigan alum. They have put too much developmental time into the young passer for someone else to reap the benefits. Growth after only ten games might not only be likely, but certain. Just last year, the decision-makers were confident that McCarthy would be the future franchise quarterback.
Graziano added, “People I’ve talked to who are close to this situation insist that the Vikings haven’t given up on McCarthy — that part of their hope is bringing in Murray sends some sort of shock to McCarthy’s system and gets him refocused on whatever they think he got away from last year. It’s probably a long shot, but again, there doesn’t seem to be much they would gain from trading him at this point.”
McCarthy might not benefit from competition, but the Vikings certainly will. The franchise needs improved quarterback play and adding a talented two-time Pro Bowler should raise the bar McCarthy has to clear compared to last year’s backups, Sam Howell, Max Brosmer and Brett Rypien.
“Murray is signed for one year, and his deal prohibits the Vikings from franchise-tagging him next offseason,” Graziano continued. “There’s a world in which Minnesota gets to the end of this season believing that McCarthy has figured some things out and can still be what it thought he would be. If not, maybe then the Vikings cut bait. But there’s no reason to do it now.”
It’s too early to trade McCarthy, but it might become a possibility in a year, after collecting some more data on his skill set. The downside of waiting is that the pick in return would drop by a round or two, but the upside is that the franchise could have a franchise quarterback after some real development in his first full offseason. It’s fair to question how likely that is, but it would be naive to think that a 23-year-old can’t learn a thing or two after only ten starts.
For now, Murray is expected to come out victorious in the so-called quarterback competition. Still, Murray has never been consistent throughout a full season and injuries generally cost him a few games every year. The chance that McCarthy will get his opportunity one way or another remains high.
Either way, the upcoming eight months could be crucial in both signal-callers’ careers.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.