J.J. McCarthy Working Out is the Vikings’ Best Case Scenario
The Minnesota Vikings are heading into the 2026 season with an open QB competition. Many were reluctant to believe it when Kevin O’Connell first said it, but various reports, including one from NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, indicate it is actually happening.
Still, it’s widely believed that Kyler Murray would win the competition. Not many are giving the 23-year-old McCarthy a shot to win it, and it’s understandable. Murray has provided MVP-caliber play before in his career. McCarthy has only played in 10 games out of a possible 35, and was inconsistent at best in the games he did play.
Still, assuming that McCarthy can stay healthy for once, the kid really might have a shot to reclaim the job that was handed to him when Sam Darnold walked out the door to Seattle and won a Super Bowl. If that were to happen, then that would be the Vikings’ best-case scenario.
Why J.J. McCarthy Working Out is the Vikings’ Best Case Scenario
Minnesota spent a first-round pick on McCarthy in 2024, as well as a fourth and fifth-round pick that year, to swap picks with the Jets to secure the former National Champion.
Minnesota’s investment in McCarthy is large, and not just in the tangible assets it sent out; it’s also in the opportunity cost. The Vikings did technically try to re-sign Sam Darnold after his career resurrection in 2024, but they didn’t go all the way since they had McCarthy waiting in the wings. There’s no surefire way to say that the Vikings would’ve won it all with Darnold, but QB play that was even average in 2025 would’ve had Minnesota comfortably in a playoff spot.
The Vikings also invested 2025 into J.J. McCarthy as much as they could while he was available to play. This investment may have cost them greatly, as it returned them a 9-8 record and no plans for the postseason. Still, it isn’t all for nothing, as McCarthy showed flashes of his 4th quarter clutch gene and gained valuable experience in his appearances.
Technically, McCarthy was one of the better QBs in the NFL in Weeks 14-18 in terms of EPA/play. In Weeks 1-13, he was the 35th-ranked QB out of 35 in EPA/play. In Weeks 14-18, this ranking shot way up to 5th out of 35.
If McCarthy does pan out, there could be one revelation that perhaps the Vikings care about the most in all of this: they were right. If it doesn’t work out, then they were wrong, and a lot of time and resources go down the drain.
The Vikings’ Minimal Investment in Kyler Murray
The Minnesota Vikings have next-to-no investment in QB Kyler Murray. His $1.3 million price tag to the team in 2026 is negligible on their cap books, and if Murray doesn’t work out, then they basically lose nothing.
However, the technical price in principle is much higher if Murray doesn’t work out, and should McCarthy not also be the guy himself. If neither of these men works out, then the Vikings have no QB and could be looking to the stacked 2027 NFL Draft class to try this whole thing again.
The main question in that scenario would be whether or not Kevin O’Connell would be around to make the decision on who that would be.
