After the 2023 season, the Vikings decided to abandon the veteran quarterback rollercoaster for a potential franchise quarterback.
The ride ended up being bumper cars without the bumpers.
Minnesota had earned the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Four quarterbacks had been drafted in the first eight picks. As the clock ticked toward their pick at No. 11, the Vikings feared being leapfrogged by the Broncos at No. 12.
And so the Vikings gave up a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick to move up from No. 11 to No. 10. (They also received a seventh-rounder from the Jets as part of the deal.) They used the pick not to take Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, but to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
His rookie season was lost to a meniscus injury during the preseason opener. And while the 2024 season went well with free-agent Sam Darnold stepping in, the Vikings opted to go all-in with McCarthy for 2025, allowing both Darnold and Daniel Jones to leave via free agency.
McCarthy won his debut game on a Monday night in Chicago. A Week 2 loss in Atlanta resulted in an ankle injury that caused McCarthy to miss the next five games. He returned in Week 9 with an upset of the Lions in Detroit. Three straight losses followed, and a concussion in Green Bay caused McCarthy to miss what was a 26-0 low point in Seattle with undrafted rookie Max Brosmer at the helm.
But then McCarthy returned. He won three in a row, missed the Christmas Day win over the Lions (Brosmer got a little redemption, but not much, in the defense-driven performance), and won the regular-season finale against the Packers. While the Vikings’ postseason hopes were dashed after the shutout loss to the Seahawks, the Vikings finished strong under McCarthy.
Still, the two-year body of work wasn’t enough to keep the Vikings from pouncing on the opportunity to add Kyler Murray in free agency, on a bargain-basement deal (thanks to the Cardinals owing him more than $35 million in 2026). The competition between Murray and McCarthy lingered into training camp, with Murray getting the job in the days before the preseason opener.
At that point, it seemed that a fresh start for McCarthy would be beneficial for both sides. The vibes were clearly off, even though the team and the player did their best to conceal any dysfunction. The fact that McCarthy slipped behind Carson Wentz on the depth chart underscored the reality that it was just a matter of time before McCarthy would be gone.
Opportunity knocked after the Giants lost Jaxson Dart to a knee injury. Still, the Vikings got merely a fifth-round pick for McCarthy — after giving up the 11th pick in 2024, a fourth-round pick, and a fifth-round pick to get him (with the seventh-round pick in return).
It’s always prudent for a team that has made a mistake to admit it and move on. Doubling down helps no one. Still, there’s a price to be paid for acknowledging to such a major blunder.
And while no one knows what was happening behind the scenes, the early-season performances from Murray and Wentz suggested that maybe, at some point in 2026, the Vikings would have needed McCarthy to play. His absence puts more pressure on the team to make it work with Murray and/or Wentz (and, if necessary, with Brosmer).
The Vikings also need to quietly hope that McCarthy doesn’t become a competent contributor for the Giants. If he does, the Vikings would join the list of franchises that used a high pick on a rookie quarterback, failed to develop him, and folded the tents prematurely.
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