The Minnesota Vikings gave J.J. McCarthy every opportunity to become their quarterback of the present and future during the 2025 campaign. Unfortunately for the former Michigan star, a combination of uneven play and injuries stopped him from living up to the hype that accompanied his entrance into the NFL.
Now it's becoming increasingly obvious that no way back to starting for the Vikings exists for McCarthy. First, the franchise made the move to sign Kyler Murray in free agency. He will clearly enter the 2026 season as the team's starter at the most important position. Murray had his own ups-and-downs with Arizona but there's little debate that he possesses a higher floor and higher ceiling than McCarthy does over the next few years.
It's also worth noting that Max Brosmer is still on the team's roster. He was not ready for primetime action, but it's conceivable he still has some fans in the building. In particular, head coach Kevin O'Connell seemed to have a lot of faith in him when he got into games last year.
The real death knell for McCarthy's tenure in Minnesota came with the news that Carson Wentz would be signing a one-year deal with the Vikings as a free agent. Securing the 33-year-old on a modest deal sends a clear message that McCarthy is unlikely to earn any playing time this year barring a series of injuries. The only logic behind signing Wentz is to deploy him as a veteran backup who can keep the team afloat if Murray is forced to miss a game or two due to injury.
The #Vikings are re-signing QB Carson Wentz to a 1-year deal.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 19, 2026
He joins Kyler Murray, JJ McCarthy and Max Brosmer. pic.twitter.com/1DJ1mAkPwE
At best, McCarthy projects as the team's third-string quarterback if everyone stays healthy through the preseason. That's not where he needs to be if he's going to reestablish himself in the franchise's long-term plans.
What will the Vikings do with J.J. McCarthy?
The Vikings would be wise to exercise patience with McCarthy. They have already shattered his potential trade value by showing how little faith they have in his skills. The sheen of a former first-round pick has almost disappeared around the young signal-caller.
Their best hope of recouping any sort of value with McCarthy is to wait for a team to suffer an unfortunate injury at the quarterback position during the preseason. It's conceivable that another team might fancy their chances to rehab McCarthy's value as an injury replacement starter this season. Minnesota would do well to wait for that opportunity to present itself before trading McCarthy for a future draft pick with upside. They should work hard to position themselves to receive more value if McCarthy beats the odds and plays well next year.
In the end, McCarthy has to go down as a big swing-and-miss for the Vikings' front office. They tried to use him to replace Sam Darnold on the cheap and the gamble backfired. Now it's time for Minnesota to cut ties with McCarthy and move on to other quarterback options.