The Minnesota Vikings appear to be finished with JJ McCarthy as the starting quarterback, as the team is now a heavy favorite to sign Kyler Murray in free agency.
“I think the real fundamental question is does Kevin [O’Connell] believe in JJ McCarthy? And I think that answer is probably no. I would say not probably, I would say it is no,” Mike Lombardi told the “Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, March 6. “And so they are gonna go for another quarterback.”
“I think the JJ McCarthy era is going to be on the back burner, if not over,” Lombardi continued.
Approximately two hours after Lombardi laid out the thinking of the Minnesota coaching staff and front office, NFL Media insider Tom Pelissero was explaining on the “Rich Eisen Show” that the Vikings are now the heavy favorites to ink Kyler Murray to a one-year veteran’s league minimum after the Arizona Cardinals officially release him at the start of the new league year.
“If I had to say who was the favorite right now to land Kyler Murray, I would say — for a lot of different reasons — it is Minnesota,” Pelissero said.
Kyler Murray Should Be Fully Rested, Healthy for Next Season
GettyQuarterback Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals
Essentially every NFL analyst contends that Murray is going to ink a $1.3 million minimum deal in Minnesota, as the Cardinals owe him around $36 million in guaranteed money for the 2026 campaign.
Murray is the former No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft and earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors that season. He is also a two-time Pro Bowler (2020, 2021) and should be as healthy as at any point in his career after suffering a foot injury in Week 5.
The Cardinals held him out for the rest of the year in the interest of health and preserving his trade value, so Murray should be rested and ready for his age-29 season that will start in earnest this September.
Murray has tallied 20,460 yards, 121 TDs and 60 INTs on 67.1 percent passing over the course of his seven-year professional career. He has added 3,193 rushing yards and 32 scores on the ground.
He is 38-48-1 across 87 NFL starts and is 0-1 in the playoffs following one postseason berth after the 2021 campaign.
Vikings Must Erase Sam Darnold Mistake, Kyler Murray Can Help
GettyQuarterback Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks.
Minnesota is hunting a remedy to what was clearly a mistake in letting Sam Darnold walk in free agency, as he captured a Super Bowl ring with the Seattle Seahawks the following year (2025).
ESPN’s Mina Kimes and Dan Pizzuta agreed on her podcast earlier this week that Murray’s most recent sets of real data are far superior than those Darnold put up before joining the Vikings, which means he could potentially prove even more successful in Minnesota than Darnold did.
“[Minnesota] is the name that makes the most sense, not just because of where they are as a franchise, but because of what I think Kyler Murray should be looking for,” Kimes said. “Minnesota is obvious. This was the ‘quarterback-away’ team. This was the team that should have been a playoff team last year.”
“When Sam Darnold signed with the Vikings, his last two years in the NFL … he was 55th in QBR and 41st in EPA per drop back,” Kimes continued. “Kyler Murray’s last two seasons … 15th in both of those metrics. At minimum, you’re getting an average quarterback. So it feels like a no-brainer for Minnesota to do it.”
If Murray has success, which is likely should he remain healthy given the talent already on the Vikings’ roster, Minnesota will have to extend him to avoid another Darnold-type of situation.
Thus, McCarthy’s rookie deal will probably come and go after four years, with Minnesota avoiding the fifth-year team option for 2028, and he will be hunting employment elsewhere two offseasons from now as a reclamation project himself.
JJ McCarthy’s Run With Vikings Likely Over as Minnesota ‘Favorite’ to Add Former No. 1 Pick at QB